T-Mobile Invests $2.7 Billion to Expand Fiber Broadband Footprint

T-Mobile is further accelerating its efforts to build a nationwide fiber broadband network. The company announced on April 28th that it plans to establish two new fiber optic joint ventures with a total investment of approximately 2.7 billion US dollars.

Two major acquisitions, adding coverage to millions of households

This large wireless operator will establish a joint venture with private equity firm Oak Hill Capital, each holding a 50% stake, to acquire and merge GoNetspeed and Greenlight Networks. In this transaction, T-Mobile will invest approximately $2 billion and is expected to complete delivery in the first half of 2027. The transaction will integrate Oak Hill’s existing two fiber optic combination companies and expand its business under the T-Fiber brand to residential users in the northeastern United States, currently covering Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. The merged platform is expected to cover over 1.3 million households by the end of 2026.

Another transaction is the establishment of a joint venture between T-Mobile and WrenHouse, with each holding a 50% stake, to acquire i3 Broadband, which provides fiber to the home services for residential users. T-Mobile will invest approximately $700 million in this and is expected to complete delivery in the second half of 2026. I3 Broadband currently covers markets such as Missouri, Illinois, and Rhode Island, and is expected to reach approximately 500000 households by the end of 2026.

Adhere to wholesale mode and reuse existing cooperation experience

Prior to this, T-Mobile had already partnered with EQT to operate Lumos and KKR to operate Metronet. These fiber optic joint ventures adopted wholesale or open access models, with T-Mobile as the main tenant and other operators also able to access these networks. The two newly announced fiber optic joint ventures will also operate in a wholesale mode.

Currently, T-Mobile’s fiber broadband has covered approximately one million customers. The newly announced transaction will increase its fiber optic coverage by an additional 1 million households. T-Mobile’s ultimate goal is to have 3 to 4 million fiber optic customers by the end of 2030, covering 12 to 15 million households.

Or further acquire Uniti assets

It is worth noting that research firm TMT Finance recently reported that both T-Mobile and private equity firm TPG are interested in acquiring all or part of the assets of Uniti Group. Analysts point out that there are still many important details that need to be clarified, such as whether T-Mobile is only interested in Uniti’s 2.1 million fiber optic points, whether it also includes its planned upgrade of 1.4 million points, or whether it has full coverage of 4.4 million fiber and copper cables. It is also possible that T-Mobile is not interested in Uniti. However, this major operator has clearly demonstrated a strong willingness to expand its fiber broadband network.