Ownership

Immediately after Verizon announced that it was buying Frontier Communications, people started saying “the race for fiber assets is on!”  And perhaps they are right because AT&T and BlackRock announced they want to grow their Gigapower fiber joint venture more than originally planned. AT&T also announced four new partnerships to expand its fiber network faster. AT&T said it selected each company because they provide opportunities to expand AT&T Fiber to new service areas without existing fiber options.

Speculation is swirling that Verizon's $20 billion bid for Frontier Communications will spur more fiber-focused mergers & acquisitions among the nation's top mobile operators.

Race Communications secured more than $500 million in additional capital to accelerate the expansion of its fiber network across the state. This capital raise includes $375 million in equity from Oak Hill Capital, the existing majority investor, and its limited partners. The funding also features incremental debt financing from existing lender AB Private Credit Investors, who will also be participating in the equity round.

If the proposed recombination of Windstream and Uniti is completed, the combined company could win Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding for fiber builds to 500,000 locations. Windstream has a strong focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, where locations are most likely to be eligible for BEAD funding. The company also may have a cost advantage in comparison with other companies that might want to bid for BEAD funding to serve the same locations. The company has been touting its comparatively low average fiber deployment cost of $650 per passing.

In regards to the newly announced Verizon and Frontier deal, Verizon Consumer Group CEO Sowmyanarayn Sampath said, “This is exactly the kind of deal we’ve wanted to do. It goes back to the foundation of our strategy," he said. "There are two businesses we are in: premium mobility and broadband.

Verizon is in advanced talks to acquire Frontier Communications in a deal that would bolster the company’s fiber network to compete with rivals including AT&T. A deal would be sizable, given Frontier’s market value of over $7 billion. The company, cobbled together by several deals over the years, provides broadband connections to about three million locations across 25 states. Verizon, the top cellphone carrier by subscribers, has faced increased pressure from competitors and from cable TV companies that offer discounted wireless service backed by Verizon’s own cellular network.

A federal judge recently told us what we already knew: that Google is a monopolist in the Web search market. In his scathing 277-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta noted that Google has an 89.2 percent share of the overall search market and a 94.9 percent share of searches conducted on mobile devices. Fixing the problem will be tricky.

The reasons why municipalities and cooperatives build community-owned broadband networks are numerous, often fueled by years of frustration with the spotty, expensive service offered by the big monopoly incumbents.

While billionaires have pushed Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA) to depart from President Joe Biden’s antitrust policy, the Democratic Party seems to be doubling down. The word “competition” comes up 18 times in the party’s 2024 platform, compared to nine in the 2020 version.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett blocked Discovery, Fox, and Disney's new sports streaming service, Venu, from launching, a major blow to the effort. Judge Garnett that the new offering would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.” Fubo, a sports-centric streaming service, sued the three companies earlier this year after they announced the joint venture.