Combined, the pair cover 25 million homes.

This is a somewhat karmic turn of events. In 2009, Frontier acquired some of Verizon’s legacy local exchange business for $8.5 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that’s around $12.5 billion 2024 dollars.

“The acquisition of Frontier is a strategic fit,” said Vestberg in a statement. “It will build on Verizon’s two decades of leadership at the forefront of fiber and is an opportunity to become more competitive in more markets throughout the United States, enhancing our ability to deliver premium offerings to millions more customers across a combined fiber network.”