California Public Utilities Commission Approves Verizon-Frontier Merger

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2026 – California’s telecom regulator approved Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Thursday, clearing the way for the deal to close next week.

The adopted decision still required Verizon to deploy broadband to all locations served by 88 rural wire centers, something the company had opposed after seeing the draft decision, but included some changes the company had suggested to make the requirement less expensive.

Those included exemptions for locations already served by broadband or “to which no customer has requested broadband service,” the ability to deploy lower speeds or partner with a satellite provider at locations where it would cost more than $10,000 to lay fiber, and the ability to apply state and federal grant funding to those locations.