Verizon Communications (VZ) said on Thursday that it has moved on from plans to acquire cable companies and instead will focus on building out its own fiber infrastructure.
Speculation over a tie-up with Charter Communications (CHTR) was building up after Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told Wall Street analysts last year that such a deal would make “industrial sense.”
McAdam said on Thursday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference that Verizon is more interested in building up its fiber infrastructure.
“We did, I guess, about a year ago, go through a process of taking a look at cable companies. But the fiber infrastructure isn’t there,” McAdam said.
In April, Verizon agreed to buy optical fiber from Corning (GLW) for at least $1.05 billion over the next three years to improve its network infrastructure.
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McAdam said at the conference on Thursday the company would be acquiring content for its Oath business and a content deal is expected by the end of September.
Verizon bought Yahoo‘s core business for $4.48 billion in 2016. It then combined Yahoo with AOL to form a venture called Oath.
McAdam said the company expects cost savings of $10 billion over four years from operating expenses and capital expenses, which would fund their dividends in 2022.
Shares of the company were marginally down at $47.06 in morning trading.