Verizon Strikes $1 Billion Dark Fiber Deal with Google, CEO Discloses on Earnings Call

Verizon has signed a dark fiber connectivity agreement with Google valued at more than $1 billion, CEO Dan Schulman revealed during the company’s post-earnings call following a record second-quarter 2026 performance. The deal underscores the surging demand for high-capacity fiber infrastructure driven by hyperscale cloud providers, as Google and other tech giants race to expand data center capacity to support AI workloads and cloud services. Schulman highlighted that Verizon expects to announce additional similar deals by the end of the year, which combined with the Google agreement could generate multiple billions of dollars in revenue over the next several years.

The dark fiber contract, which provides Google with exclusive use of fiber optic cables for connecting its data centers, comes as Verizon’s network infrastructure business gains momentum. The telecom giant reported a strong second quarter, with mobility and broadband service revenue growing 2.8%, driven by 184,000 postpaid phone net additions—the best Consumer second-quarter postpaid phone performance in five years. Total mobility and broadband net additions exceeded 550,000 in the quarter, an increase of more than 230,000 compared to the same period in 2025, and surpassed 1 million in the first half of the year, more than double the first-half 2025 total. Broadband net additions reached 348,000, up 12.3% year over year, including 193,000 fixed wireless access additions and 155,000 fiber additions, bringing total fixed wireless and fiber broadband connections to approximately 17.1 million.

Verizon’s financials also hit new highs. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose 7.2% year over year to $13.7 billion, the highest ever reported, with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding to 40.1% from 37.1% a year earlier—also a company record. Cash flow from operations for the first half of 2026 grew 9.9% year over year to $18.4 billion, while free cash flow increased 16.0% to $10.2 billion. In the second quarter alone, cash flow from operations rose 16.3% year over year to $10.4 billion, and free cash flow climbed 24.4% to $6.4 billion. Consolidated net income declined 22.9% to $3.9 billion, weighed down by $1.8 billion in pre-tax special items, including a $746 million loss from the sale of Verizon’s international wireline connectivity and managed network services business, $258 million in asset rationalization charges, and $397 million in severance costs. Adjusted earnings per share, excluding special items, rose 6.6% to $1.30.

Schulman said the strong quarterly performance allowed Verizon to return $9.4 billion in total capital to shareholders in the first half of 2026 and expand its full-year share buyback target to as much as $4.5 billion. The company raised its full-year guidance for the second consecutive quarter, now projecting mobility and broadband service revenue growth of 2.5% to 3.0%, adjusted earnings per share of $4.99 to $5.04, cash flow from operations growth of approximately 2.0% to 4.0%, and free cash flow growth of 9.0% to 10.0%. “This deal with Google is just the beginning,” Schulman noted on the call, signaling that Verizon’s fiber infrastructure business could become a major growth driver as cloud demand accelerates.