KKR has finalized its acquisition of Metronet through a joint venture with T-Mobile, forming a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating fiber-to-the-home deployments across underserved U.S. markets. The deal brings together Metronet’s 42,000-mile fiber infrastructure and growing commercial and residential customer base with T-Mobile’s nationwide reach and brand presence. Metronet currently delivers multi-gigabit internet to over 2.6 million homes and businesses in 300+ communities across 19 states.
Under the terms of the transaction, Metronet transitions to a wholesale fiber infrastructure provider. T-Mobile Fiber, now owning the residential customer relationships, will handle sales, marketing, and customer experience. Metronet will continue to focus on network buildouts and maintaining its commercial fiber operations. The companies aim to significantly boost fiber availability in regions historically overlooked by incumbent providers.
The deal enhances KKR’s expansive digital infrastructure portfolio, which includes 12 fiber investments serving 30 million homes globally, as well as over 155 data center facilities and 130,000+ wireless infrastructure sites. With this acquisition, KKR adds Metronet’s efficient fiber deployment model to its platform while giving T-Mobile a scaled path to grow its fixed broadband footprint.
- Metronet reaches over 2.6 million homes and businesses across 19 states
- T-Mobile Fiber takes over Metronet’s residential customers and service operations
- Metronet retains wholesale and commercial fiber business, continuing network expansions
- KKR has committed $31B to digital infrastructure, including fiber, data centers, and towers
- T-Mobile strengthens its fixed broadband position in underserved U.S. markets
“With KKR and T‑Mobile, we have best‑in‑class strategic partners committed to taking our growth to the next level,” said Dave Heimbach, CEO of Metronet.
🌐 Why it Matters:
This acquisition reflects a growing shift among telecom and infrastructure investors to rapidly scale fiber broadband access across the U.S., especially in underserved and mid-sized markets. KKR’s partnership with T-Mobile and Metronet demonstrates how open-access, wholesale fiber models are gaining traction as a viable alternative to legacy cable and DSL networks. The move positions T-Mobile as a competitive force in fixed broadband, challenging incumbents like AT&T, Comcast, and Lumen.
Nationwide, fiber investment momentum is accelerating. AT&T has committed to passing over 30 million locations with fiber by 2025 and recently launched its Gigapower joint venture to build open-access networks in new markets. Frontier, Brightspeed, Consolidated Communications, and Ziply Fiber are also aggressively expanding their footprints. Private equity firms like KKR, Brookfield, and EQT are pouring capital into these builds, citing the long-term value of fiber as critical digital infrastructure.
The timing also aligns with reforms to the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which received $42.5 billion in funding under the IIJA. The NTIA’s recent streamlining of BEAD rules—including a “Benefit of the Bargain” policy that reduces regulatory burdens—will further catalyze private-public partnerships. With the BEAD process shifting into the subgrantee phase, projects like Metronet’s could benefit from federal matching, accelerating last-mile deployments and closing the digital divide.
- In June 2025, T-Mobile launched its fiber-based home internet service expanding availability to more than 500,000 U.S. households and introducing a lineup of new fiber plans backed by a five-year price guarantee. The official launch comes shortly after the acquisition of Lumos and builds on the momentum of T-Mobile’s existing 5G Home Internet service, which has over 1 million customers on a waitlist. The new fiber offering includes symmetrical upload/download speeds, unlimited data, no equipment fees or contracts, and perks via the T-Mobile Tuesdays program. The plans cater to different household needs, starting with Fiber 500 at $60/month with Autopay and a T-Mobile voice line, and scaling up to a Fiber 2 Gig plan priced at $90/month under the same conditions. The most aggressive promotion is the limited-time “Fiber Founders Club” plan, offering 2 Gbps for $70/month with a 10-year price lock and no voice line requirement — available in select markets. All plans include Whole Home Wi-Fi with mesh support for higher tiers and are free from data caps.
- T-Mobile’s acquisition of Lumos, announced in late 2024 and completed in early 2025, marks a major expansion of its fixed broadband strategy by giving the Un-carrier direct control over a fast-growing fiber infrastructure provider in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. Lumos, headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, was building and operating 100% fiber-optic networks across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, with ambitions to pass 1 million homes by the end of 2026. The deal gave T-Mobile access to Lumos’s existing footprint of over 320,000 fiber passings and active construction in more than 25 metro markets, enabling a rapid scale-up of T-Mobile Fiber’s availability.
