Verizon and Corning reached a multi-year supply agreement for more than 80 million miles of high-density optical fiber to meet surging AI demand.
While a specific figure was not given, the partnership was described as a multibillion-dollar deal that runs through 2032. Verizon expects the multi-use fiber deployment to reach up to 50 million broadband passings in the U.S., expanding fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and local business connectivity with cell towers, data centers, and residential neighborhoods tethered to the same high-capacity backbone. Verizon’s announcement touted its 30-year partnership with Corning, while detailing how the expansion is underpinned by Corning's Contour Flow ribbon cable offering, helping the operator to roll out "significantly" more optical fiber within conduit pathways.
Verizon also talked up its AI Connect strategy, with high-density fiber deemed essential to the AI buildout led by hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), with whom the firm holds an AI-focused networking deal.
The overall vision, Verizon argued, is for AI’s benefits to reach American consumers, businesses, schools, and communities.
“Securing this volume of fiber allows us to continue building the network of the future at an unprecedented scale,” Verizon Business CEO Kyle Malady noted. “We are deploying a single, converged architecture that unites mobile connectivity and broadband into one seamless experience for millions of families and businesses, while simultaneously building the high-capacity, low-latency backbone AI hyperscalers demand. With Corning as our partner, we are securing the physical foundation of America’s AI economy.”
“Corning is thrilled to deepen our three-decade partnership with Verizon as we provide our latest optical innovations in fiber, cable, and connectivity to link AI data centers together while ensuring more Americans have access to AI with high-speed fiber connections at home,” Mike O’Day, SVP and GM of Corning Optical Communications, added. “This partnership demonstrates that [generative] AI and broadband expansion are part of the same transformative opportunity. Corning is proud to build on our 175-year legacy of supporting our customers’ growth with breakthrough innovations that we manufacture at scale here in the United States.”