T-Mobile pursues more pure play fiber assets with its U.S. Internet acquisitionBut the deal isn’t enough to give T-Mo an edge over its competition, said New Street ResearchThe operator is also doubling down on fiber through BEAD

T-Mobile is acquiring Minnesota-based ISP U.S. Internet, marking another notch on its fiber broadband toolbelt.

Unlike T-Mobile’s acquisitions of Lumos and Metronet – both of which are officially closed – the U.S. Internet buy has an under-radar-vibe. T-Mobile hasn’t published a press release on the deal, but reports said U.S. Internet customers received a letter earlier this month stating they’ll “become a T-Mobile customer on or after September 2.”

Financial terms of the deal are unknown, and Fierce has reached out to T-Mobile for more information. But the operator has previously indicated more M&A moves are on the horizon.

“We like pure play fiber assets,” said T-Mobile COO Srini Gopalan on the company’s Q2 earnings call, noting the carrier is “very open” to fiber investments.

T-Mobile’s fiber game plan

U.S. Internet seems to fit the pure play bill. The ISP started out as a Wi-Fi provider for the city of Minneapolis but has offered fiber internet since 2010. Minnesota is also one of several states where T-Mobile is expanding its fiber network through open access partnerships. For instance, it’s working with Intrepid in Colorado and Minnesota, Si-Fi Networks in California and Tillman in Florida.

T-Mobile as of June has fiber available to more than 500,000 households across 10 states, and it is aiming to reach 12-15 million fiber locations in the coming years with the help of Lumos, Metronet and open access deals.

The U.S. Internet transaction would see T-Mobile gain over 192,000 fiber locations, according to New Street Research. But it’s not enough to give the operator an edge over AT&T and Verizon, which both have larger and more established fiber footprints.

“T-Mobile’s converged footprint remains a fraction of the other 2 large wireless operators,” said NSR analyst Vikash Harlalka in a note today. “These small acquisitions aren’t going to move the needle by much.”

Furthermore, most of U.S. Internet’s footprint overlaps with at least one other cable or fiber provider. Harlalka noted 96% of the ISP’s locations overlap with Comcast and 71% overlap with Lumen’s home fiber territory (soon to be acquired by AT&T).

Competition is running rampant, but T-Mobile’s fiber train keeps chugging along through acquisitions as well as federal funding. T-Mobile, along with Louisiana-based fiber companies Swyft Fiber and REV, is part of a consortium that scored $378 million from the state’s new BEAD awards. The funds aim to cover over 68,000 of roughly 128,000 underserved Louisiana locations.