Verizon has increased its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) following a $2 billion agreement in AI infrastructure. The company revealed the partnership during its third-quarter earnings announcement. According to Dan Schulman, CEO of Verizon: “One year into our transformation, Verizon is fundamentally stronger.” Several months later, Verizon inked a $1bn fiber agreement with Google, the leading technology company, which involves the carrier offering dark fiber to connect Google’s data centers.
The telecom giant mentioned that its AWS deal sets up a foundation for growing distributed computing and fulfilling the urgent needs of AI workloads, both active and creative. Dan Schulman pointed out that the carrier’s fiber network is highly desired to support the development of the next generation of AI infrastructure.
He mentioned during the company’s earnings call, “Customer demand for dark fiber, lit fiber, and our Edge compute locations is incredibly strong.” “I clearly see that it signifies a substantial growth chance for us, and a vast expanding market which is growing swiftly, presenting us with a sizable addressable market.”. Today’s earnings announcement signifies a year since Schulman took the reins, who previously outlined a plan for an AI-driven “complete overhaul” during Verizon’s third-quarter earnings report last year.
With Google and AWS now part of Verizon’s roster, Schulman implies that the company is striving to add more partners. He also mentioned an active pipeline of potential hyperscalers, neocloud providers, and large enterprise clients in talks to receive either dark or lit fiber connectivity from Verizon.
Furthermore, Schulman expressed satisfaction that numerous partners are expressing interest in utilizing the company’s network hubs for AI inference Edge computing, with some deals already being finalized. Schulman stated that the company’s initial long-term agreements are anticipated to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in income during their duration, with the carrier having signed contracts for approximately $4 billion.
He added that, based on the observed demand, both fiber and Edge computing are expected to significantly contribute to the company’s future growth. Schulman’s approach to supporting hyperscalers is in line with former Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg’s remarks in 2024, emphasizing the carrier’s capability to maximize the potential of generative AI Edge computing.
Verizon’s ability to support hyperscalers will be facilitated by a multi-year supply agreement with fiber manufacturer Corning, under which Corning will provide over 80 million miles of high-density optical fiber to Verizon until 2032. This deal supports Verizon’s efforts to provide the long-haul backbone required by AI hyperscalers, as well as the carrier’s own fiber broadband objectives.
The key points from Verizon’s Q3 2026 financial report. In the recent quarter, Verizon reported operating revenue of $34.3 billion, a 223% YoY increase, with mobility and broadband service revenues growing 2.9%. However, equipment revenue declined 9% YoY.
The company added 406,000 postpaid phone subscribers in Q22026, a 208% YoY increase, marking its best third-quarter performance in five years. In the same period, Verizon added 220,262 broadband subscribers, comprising 212,222 FWA and 205,222 fiber broadband net additions.
