Verizon Signs AWS AI Infrastructure Deal Worth More Than $2 Billion

Verizon has expanded its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) through an AI infrastructure agreement worth more than $2 billion.

The telecommunications company announced the deal while reporting its third-quarter 2026 earnings.

Fiber and edge computing for AI workloads

Verizon said the agreement with AWS establishes a commercial framework for scaling distributed computing and supporting the real-time requirements of agentic and generative AI workloads.

CEO Dan Schulman said Verizon's fiber network is attracting demand from companies developing the next generation of AI infrastructure. During the earnings call, he said demand for dark fiber, lit fiber, and edge computing locations was strong.

Schulman described the activity as a significant growth opportunity and a rapidly expanding addressable market for Verizon.

The AWS agreement follows Verizon's $1 billion fiber deal with Google, under which Verizon will provide dark fiber to connect Google's data centers. With both Google and AWS as customers, Schulman said Verizon is pursuing additional partnerships.

The company has an active pipeline involving other hyperscalers, neocloud providers, and large enterprise customers negotiating for dark or lit fiber connectivity. Verizon is also seeing interest from partners that want to use its network hubs for AI inference at the edge, with that demand already resulting in signed agreements.

Schulman said Verizon's first long-term contracts are expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over their terms. The carrier has signed contracts worth approximately $4 billion in total and expects fiber and edge computing to contribute meaningfully to future growth.

Fiber supply and network expansion

Verizon's strategy builds on comments from former CEO Hans Vestberg, who said in 2024 that the carrier was well positioned to benefit from generative AI edge computing.

The company's ability to serve hyperscalers is also supported by a multiyear supply agreement with Corning. Under that agreement, Corning will provide Verizon with more than 80 million miles of high-density optical fiber through 2032.

The supply deal supports Verizon's plans for the long-haul backbone required by AI hyperscalers, as well as the company's broader fiber broadband expansion.

Verizon's third-quarter 2026 results

Verizon reported operating revenue of $34.3 billion for the quarter, an increase of 1.5 percent year over year. Mobility and broadband service revenue rose 2.9 percent, although equipment revenue declined 9 percent year over year.

The carrier added 406,000 postpaid phone connections during the quarter. Verizon said this represented an increase of more than 820 percent year over year and its strongest third-quarter performance in five years.

Broadband net additions totaled 314,000, including 159,000 fixed wireless access connections and 155,000 fiber broadband connections. Verizon ended the quarter with 17.4 million broadband connections.

The company expects to reach 32 million fiber locations by the end of the year and remains on track to achieve its medium-term target of 40 million to 50 million locations.

Schulman said Verizon's fiber and fixed wireless access networks provide the assets needed to compete in broadband. He also said the company is taking a more segmented approach to fixed wireless access and will not sell the service where it cannot provide the speeds expected by a particular customer segment.

Following the results, Verizon raised its full-year guidance for the third consecutive quarter. The company now expects to add between 1.1 million and 1.2 million connections, compared with its previous full-year range of 750,000 to 1 million. Verizon also expects increases in cash flow from operations and free cash flow.