SoftBank Secures FCC Approval to Acquire Rural ISP WideOpenWest

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cleared SoftBank’s acquisition of WideOpenWest (WOW!), a rural Internet service provider. The decision marks a milestone as WOW! is set to become one of the first U.S. broadband providers to come under majority Japanese ownership. The deal is part of a broader $4 billion acquisition by SoftBank of digital infrastructure investor Digital Bridge, first announced at the end of last year, which also grants the Japanese giant control over more than $100 billion in assets including data center operators Switch, AtlasEdge, and Yondr Group.

WOW! was acquired by DigitalBridge and Crestview Partners for $1.5 billion last December, with the transaction closing that same month. SoftBank’s takeover now folds WOW! into its expanding digital infrastructure portfolio. Founded in 1996, WOW! provides broadband to nearly 2 million residential, business, and wholesale consumers, with approximately 465,000 broadband customers. Its footprint spans 20 markets, primarily across the Midwest and Southeast, including Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In Florida, WOW! operates all-fiber networks in Central Florida, Hernando County, and Greenville County, South Carolina.

In its approval order, the FCC stated it found no “special circumstances” that warranted further investigation into the transaction, as reported earlier this month by SDx Central, a sister publication of DCD. The formal approval names Duncan Holdco LLC, a private holding company of SoftBank, rather than SoftBank itself, according to Broadband Breakfast. The acquisition strengthens SoftBank’s presence in the U.S. telecommunications market and signals continued consolidation in the rural broadband sector, where fiber investment and ownership structures are evolving amid growing demand for high-speed connectivity.