Verizon Signs $1 Billion Fiber Deal With Google LLC

Verizon Communications Inc. signed an agreement worth more than $1 billion with Google LLC to provide dark fiber connectivity for Google's data centers. The deal allows Google LLC to lease fiber-optic cables and use its own equipment for dedicated capacity, providing the tech company with direct control over routing and scale.

CEO Dan Schulman announced the partnership during a second-quarter earnings call on July 24, framing the contract as the start of a broader strategy to monetize infrastructure capacity for AI data centers. Schulman stated that the company expects to announce additional agreements by the end of the year that could collectively generate multiple billions of dollars in revenue over several years.

For the second quarter, the company reported $34.3 billion in revenue and an adjusted profit of $1.30 per share. While revenue fell short of analyst estimates due to slower phone upgrade activity, the profit beat expectations. Verizon added 184,000 monthly-bill paying wireless subscribers, a surge attributed to the June launch of its Simplicity unlimited wireless plan.

Following these results, the company raised its annual adjusted profit forecast to between $4.99 and $5.04 per share, up from a previous range of $4.95 to $4.99. Verizon also projected free cash flow growth of 9% to 10%.