Bell Canada (BCE) acquires Ziply Fiber
- Acquirer
- Bell Canada (BCE)
- Target
- Ziply Fiber
- Deal Value
- C$7.0B
- Status
- Announced
- Announced
- November 4, 2024
What happened
BCE announced that Bell Canada will acquire Ziply Fiber, the largest fiber provider in the Pacific Northwest, for approximately C$5.0 billion in cash plus roughly C$2.0 billion of assumed debt, a total value near C$7.0 billion. Ziply brings about 1.3 million fiber locations across Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho, with plans to reach 3 million, giving Canada's largest communications company its first major broadband foothold in the United States.
Why it matters
Canada's incumbents have run out of Canada, so growth means going south. Bell paid a full price for networks someone else already built, which tells you what the market now believes: fiber construction risk is worth paying to avoid, and installed fiber is infrastructure gold. The U.S. fiber map is quietly being carved up by acquirers, Verizon taking Frontier, T-Mobile's fiber joint ventures, now Bell taking Ziply, and every consolidation shrinks the pool of independent wholesale network owners that alternative providers can ride on.
Source: Ziply Fiber
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