Verizon and BT Group have announced plans to combine their international landline businesses in a new joint venture. The move is expected to complete in 2027, subject to regulatory approval. BT and Verizon say the new company will be “designed for a cloud-first world in the age of artificial intelligence,” whatever that means.
It will be a 50-50 joint venture and will serve over 3,000 multinational organizations in more than 180 countries. Verizon will pay BT an equalization amount of $625 million to ensure equal voting rights.
The combination of BT and Verizon’s international corporate fixed line operations is expected to unlock “significant efficiencies of scale across the combined global network and service operations.” BT and Verizon intend to use the joint venture’s infrastructure to meet local compliance and sovereignty needs and accelerate the deployment of next-generation connectivity platforms.
Martijn Blanken, a former Telstra and KPN executive, will be chief executive of the new company. It will join BT on 1 September in preparation for the transaction. This deal ends years of speculation about the future of BT International. BT CEO Allison Kirkby said in 2024 it could potentially sell the unit as part of a cost-cutting programme. BT International was spun off into a separate business unit last year, presumably in preparation for just such a deal.
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