T-Mobile invests $2.7B for more fiber acquisitions

Brett2032

“The wireless operator will capture a 50% interest in GoNetspeed, Greenlight and i3 Broadband”

“The deal with Wren House involves acquiring i3 Broadband, a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) provider serving residential customers. i3 Broadband is expected to pass approximately 500,000 households by the end of 2026, across current markets including those in Missouri, Illinois and Rhode Island.”

https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/t-mobile-invests-27b-more-fiber-acquisitions

https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/t-mobile-s-new-jvs-fixate-on-fiber

johnnyh12

Sooo…. this is probably good news for the i3 network? Unknown what it will do for prices though.

Brett2032

johnnyh12 I think the peering will get better. Right i3 in northern IL sends all the data to their HQ/NOC in East Peoria then to Chicago. My latency is 9ms to East Peoria and 14ms to 17ms to servers in Chicago. T-Fiber will hopefully get them to do something about that. i3 also doesn’t have lots of peering. It doesn’t seem like all the company’s that make up T-Fiber have a unified peering or upstream transit provider policy but I could see that changing. As for pricing it will get worse right now not including any discounts.

i3
300/300 $50
1000/1000 $65
2000/2000 $75

T-Fiber
500/500 $65
1000/1000 $85
2000/2000 $105

johnnyh12

Well that’s just great. i3 is just right now running fiber through my community. I’ll be signing up when it’s available since I want to dump Comcast, but that would suck if prices go up after one year.

Brett2032

johnnyh12 Ya my sector went live on the 9th and I got i3 installed on the 11th of this month. I signed up for the 2 gig for $65 for 2 year deal. I only need/want 1 gig but this is still cheaper then Comcast which has had consistent problems since they upgraded my node to fdx/ mid split in January or February.

Brett2032

Found more information about i3 broadband

“According to an i3 representative, the company has rights-of-way agreements with Libertyville, Wauconda, Lake Zurich, Vernon Hills, Warren Township, Grayslake, Antioch, Winthrop Harbor, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, Cary — which is primarily in McHenry County — and Mundelein. It is also working on right-of-ways in Highland Park and Deerfield.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/04/28/lake-county-fiber-optic-installation/

Brett2032

A message from the CEO of i3 Broadband

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news about the bright future ahead and what it means for our customers.

T-Mobile has announced plans to form a joint venture with i3 Broadband. Once the transaction is complete, i3 Broadband will join forces under a new name – T-Fiber - as a wholesale services provider for T-Mobile.

At that time, i3 Broadband customers will benefit from one of the country’s most recognizable broadband and 5G wireless brands with the industry’s best network, simple pricing, and bundled entertainment.
What’s staying the same is the heart of who we are. Our team will continue doing what we love: delivering dependable, high-quality service as part of T-Fiber.

We’ll keep you updated along the way and are genuinely excited about what’s ahead as we continue building a stronger, faster future together.

Paul Cronin, CEO

dishrich

Not so sure this is good news, but at least for now, I’m on a 3-year price lock, no contract deal for 1 Gig w/router all included for $50 thru October 2028. If it goes to $hit w/T-Mobile at the helm, at least I’m already pre-wired to go back to AT&T FTTH with a phone call.

It will also be interesting to see if i3 tries to do some sort of bundle deal w/T-Mobile cellular for it’s customers

Brett2032

i3 Broadband is now officially apart of T-Fiber.

Brett2032

Just to have a record. Here is i3 broadband’s current pricing
and T-Fiber’s

dishrich

Brett2032

How did you get to these new T prices? When I just did a query on i3’s website, using a local address here, I still get i3’s pricing you posted above…

Brett2032

dishrich it’s from https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/fiber .

The only change I have seen so far is the new banner on i3’s website.

From what I have read about with Metronet and lumos transition to T-Fiber is that you have to contact them for a plan/ price change they won’t do it automatically. T-Fiber also offered a founders club plan 2gig for $70 with a 10 year price lock. I’m not sure if they will offer us something similar. When I put in my grandmas address on the T-Fiber website I get join our waitlist and my address says fiber isn’t available but 5G home internet is. So they don’t even know we are their customer yet.

dishrich

Brett2032 my address says fiber isn’t available but 5G home internet is. So they don’t even know we are their customer yet.

Yep, same here…