Verizon Wireless on Tuesday announced it will purchase $1.05 billion worth of fiber optics solutions including cables and related hardware from Corning Incorporated, a Corning, New York-based industrial components manufacturer. The deal isn’t based on a one-time transaction and will instead see Corning provide Verizon with at least 12.4 million miles of optical fiber over a three-year period ending in 2020. The largest mobile service provider in the United States said its newly signed purchase agreement with Corning is meant to facilitate the company’s efforts to continue providing adequate coverage and improve the overall quality of its network. Depending on Verizon’s future prospects, the New Jersey-based wireless carrier might end up paying for more than $1.05 billion worth of fiber optics equipment from Corning, as that figure only represents the minimal amount of equipment Verizon agreed to purchase in the period from 2018 to 2020.
Representatives of Verizon repeatedly stated that fiber optical solutions will play an important role in the implementation of the fifth generation of mobile networks, commonly referred to as 5G. Deploying fiber cables to small and macro cell sites will help facilitate the deployment of 5G wireless networks given how the existing wired alternatives likely won’t be able to handle the telecommunications backhaul that’s expected once 5G technologies are commercialized. 5G solutions aside, Verizon’s latest purchase is also expected to positively reflect on the company’s consumer-grade broadband offerings that will be improved as a result of the deal with Corning. Following Verizon’s 2016 launch of One Fiber in Boston, the company concluded its local plans are affected by a lack of fiber supply, which is what directly prompted the decision to purchase more related hardware from Corning.
The network architecture that Verizon is planning to improve with its new purchase will positively reflect on all of its businesses, the wireless carrier said on Tuesday, implying consumers can expect a higher quality of services in the coming years as a direct result of its deal with Corning. In related news, the Big Red was recently hit with a lawsuit filed by the New York City administration that accused the company of failing to deliver on a contract that required it to complete its FiOS network in the city by 2014.