Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings have today (July 29) announced an investment of $1.5 billion in Tillman affiliate Eaton Fiber.

The investment is significant for US carrier Verizon, which partnered last year with Eaton Fiber LLC, as it helps the company to expand its fiber push in the US.

According to the announcement, the investment will support Verizon's fiber expansion plans and fully fund the acquisition of Ripple Fiber and the next phase of Eaton Fiber's network expansion.

Eaton is currently in the process of acquiring fiber-optic Internet provider Ripple Fiber. The deal is part of the company's buy-and-build strategy to bring Verizon fiber broadband to more than a million locations outside Verizon’s current fiber footprint through organic construction and disciplined acquisitions.

Founded in 2021, New York-based Tillman designs, builds, and owns high-speed Internet infrastructure. The business is part of the Tillman Global Holdings portfolio, a holding company created by Sanjiv Ahuja. Tillman appointed former Verizon technology chief Ed Chan as its CEO in June of last year.

As part of the Eaton-Verizon agreement, Eaton Fiber funds, builds, maintains, and operates the network, while Verizon serves as the exclusive retail provider of residential and small business fiber services.

Verizon has grown its fiber footprint significantly since its $20 billion Frontier Communications acquisition, and sees the Eaton partnership as a key part of its plans to scale up its fiber network. The company has passed more than 17.1 million locations with its fiber as of Q1 2026.

The carrier has ambitions to reach between 40 to 50 million locations with its fiber in the "medium term," its CEO Dan Schulman noted earlier this year.

"The US fiber market is at a critical inflection point. Higher interest rates and tighter capital markets have constrained supply for standalone fiber-to-the-premise platforms, even as demand for high-quality broadband continues to grow. Wholesale fiber platforms have emerged as the most capital-efficient way to close that gap at scale," said Angelo Rufino, head of North America special situations and head of corporate special situations in Europe at Bain Capital. "Eaton Fiber sits at the center of that opportunity, combining a proven build engine with a committed Tier 1 anchor partner in Verizon."

“Fiber is the critical backbone of digital infrastructure required to meet the evolving needs of our customers and power the rapid expansion of AI,” added Schulman. “Expanding the reach of Verizon fiber is central to our growth and convergence strategy, and this partnership gives us a highly capital-efficient model to extend Verizon’s fiber broadband experience to more customers outside of our core footprint."

Verizon will snap up Ripple's customer base through Eaton Fiber's acquisition of the company.

The carrier will also acquire a small portion of Ripple Fiber's network and related assets adjacent to or partially within Verizon's existing fiber footprint in North Carolina and South Carolina.

“This transaction marks an important milestone in the evolution of Eaton Fiber,” said Sachit Ahuja, co-president of Tillman and co-founder of Eaton Fiber. “The acquisition of Ripple Fiber meaningfully strengthens Eaton Fiber’s relationship with Verizon, while the partnership and long-term capital from Bain Capital provide additional resources to accelerate its fiber deployment. Together, these steps position Eaton Fiber to further enhance its strong build momentum and expand its geographic reach.”

The telco giant revealed in last week's earnings call that it had also struck a $1bn fiber deal with Google to connect the hyperscaler's data centers.