Verizon has signed an agreement with Tillman Global Holdings affiliate, Eaton Fiber LLC, to expand the carrier's fiber push in the US.

The carrier, which is currently in the process of acquiring Frontier Communications for $20 billion, said the Eaton deal will expand its broadband offering.

It added that the partnership with Eaton will see it extend its fiber service to markets outside of Verizon’s and Frontier’s current Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) footprint.

Eaton Fiber is an affiliate of Tillman Global Holdings, which also operates Tillman Fiber.

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.

Verizon states that the tie-up with Eaton will speed up its fiber rollout. Once the carrier finalizes its Frontier acquisition, the company will reach 25 million premises across 31 states, taking it closer to AT&T, which has moved past 30 million.

“Our strategy is clear: lead the market in premium mobility and broadband convergence, and fiber is the foundation of that leadership,” said Sowmyanarayan Sampath, executive vice president for Verizon and CEO for Verizon Consumer.

“This agreement allows us to rapidly enter new markets, accelerate deployment speed, and ensure we maintain the necessary flexibility to capture growth opportunities across the country.”

As part of the deal, Verizon said it will be the exclusive retail provider of residential fiber services over the new network through the build phase and for an additional time period, ensuring a competitive advantage in subscriber acquisition.

Funding for the network will be provided by Eaton Fiber. Eaton will also be responsible for network maintenance and installation, while Verizon will be responsible for sales and marketing and end-user customer service.

“Marking a significant expansion of Tillman’s fiber deployments, this announcement underscores our shared commitment to expanding next-generation infrastructure nationwide," added Ahuja.

Verizon will likely disclose more about the Eaton fiber deal later this week during the company’s Q3 earnings call.

The company isn’t the only carrier to push hard on fiber in the past 18 months, with AT&T and T-Mobile also actively building out their respective networks, both organically and through high-profile M&A deals.

DCD covered the US fiber frenzy in the latest issue of DCD>Magazine. Read about it here.