T-Mobile and KKR to broaden US fibre network with Metronet acquisition

T-Mobile has entered into a joint venture (JV) with KKR to acquire Metronet in a move that will significantly expand T-Mobile’s fibre footprint. Metronet, it’s worth noting, is currently the fastest-growing pure-play fibre company in the US.

“This is a unique opportunity and a smart, capital-efficient deal that enables T-Mobile to profitably build on our success in broadband and provide fast, affordable, and reliable connectivity options to millions more customers nationwide as a complement to our wireless growth strategy,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, in the announcement.

The deal also represents an ambition to reach 6.5 million homes by the end of 2030, and much depends on this JV’s performance and Metronet completing its $7 billion project integration operations. The deal will not close soon—about nine months to be exact—but in the fast-paced world of telecoms, this is a very long time, and anything can change between now and then.

“Metronet is the perfect partner for T-Mobile as a leader in fibre solutions with an incredibly fast build pace, and a top-notch management team,” Sievert added.

Just last week, KKR expressed their enthusiasm for the deal. Waldemar Szlezak, partner and global head of digital infrastructure at KKR, said, “Our new joint venture with T-Mobile will be transformational for the future of the Metronet business. We look forward to benefiting from T-Mobile’s industry-leading customer experience to support the company in reaching its full potential.”

The telecom market seems to be giving the thumbs up to this deal, with Metronet CEO Dave Heimbach stating, “We could not be prouder to expand our strategic partnership with KKR and form a new one with T-Mobile — two global leaders in 5G wireless connectivity and digital infrastructure.”

Metronet has agreed to sell 100% of its residential fibre retail operations and customers, a move that should help T-Mobile expand its broadband services more widely.

T-Mobile is set to use Metronet’s fibre-to-the-home capabilities. T-Mobile will be fully responsible for marketing and selling residential broadband—aligning well with its unique base of retail, market, brand, and service strengths—and will utilise Metronet’s deep digital capabilities around fiber infrastructure to expand to more households nationwide.

Metronet enters the partnership with a focus on build plans, network engineering, and design, while also conducting essential groundwork such as deploying trucks, digging trenches, and laying ducts toward premises. This division of responsibilities allows Metronet to concentrate on network deployment and customer installation.

With the acquisition, T-Mobile will broaden its broadband market leadership. T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet is currently delivering tens of thousands of new connections each quarter through a fixed wireless solution that uses unused network capacity on the Un-carrier’s 5G network to serve more than 500,000 households and businesses nationwide.

This new planned joint venture will be highly complementary to T-Mobile’s existing offerings and is just one part of T-Mobile’s plan to keep up with the ever-growing demands. As Sievert stated, “This expanded portfolio of offerings will help meet continually increasing consumer demand for higher speed and reliable broadband products.”

The deal to acquire Metronet is expected to close in 2025, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

(Photo by Mika Baumeister)

See also: T-Mobile closes acquisition of Mint owner

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Tags: 5G, broadband, connectivity, kkr, metronet, Networks, t-mobile, telecoms