Verizon signs more than $1 billion fiber deal with Google

Verizon signed a deal with Google worth more than $1 billion to provide dark fiber connectivity for Google’s data centers, a pact that pushes one of the country’s largest carriers deeper into the backbone of cloud infrastructure. The agreement, described as a $1 billion fiber deal, is centered on network capacity rather than a consumer bundle, and it gives Verizon a larger role in carrying traffic for one of the biggest buyers of digital infrastructure.

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said the company secured the deal with Google at a valuation above $1 billion. Dark fiber is unused fiber-optic cable that can be lit and managed by the customer, giving Google more control over how its data centers move traffic across networks. For Verizon, a contract at that scale adds a high-value revenue stream at a time when carriers are under pressure to do more than sell connectivity alone.

The transaction also shows how telecom operators and hyperscale technology companies are leaning harder on each other. Carriers need large corporate customers and stable wholesale demand as wireless and broadband competition intensifies. Cloud and AI companies need more physical network capacity to move data between data centers, customers and service layers. A deal of this size suggests Verizon sees infrastructure sales as a way to defend margins even as capital spending across the sector stays elevated.

Google’s side of the arrangement fits the same pattern. Large network contracts help it extend the reach of its services across the digital economy and keep its infrastructure tightly linked to the carriers that control access to consumers and enterprises. The value of the agreement, well above the $1 billion mark, also signals that network access remains a strategic asset even as much of the industry talks about software, cloud and AI.

The two companies already had a business relationship before this fiber pact. Verizon signed up Google Cloud in December 2021 to automate factories, and Verizon Business pages still list Google Pixel devices and offers, showing that their ties run from cloud services to device promotion. The new agreement widens that connection and underscores a broader shift in which carriers are increasingly relying on hyperscalers for core business capabilities, while hyperscalers depend on carriers to reach users and move data at scale.