The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission cleared T-Mobile's roughly $700 million bid to take control of i3 Broadband on September 10, as construction crews bored fiber under eight Bristol streets this fall.

Docket D-26-17, decided and ordered September 10, 2026, approved the transfer of i3's Area 5 cable certificate to two new entities: WH i3B Bidco LLC and Inspire Newco LLC. In their application, T-Mobile and Wren House told regulators they expected no immediate change in rates, service or billing once the deal closes.

What is being built in Bristol?

Crews started horizontal-boring fiber beneath Bristol streets in late September after the town's Department of Public Works approved i3's project. A town notice posted on September 23 confirmed the work.

The active streets are:

• Casey Drive
• Sullivan Lane
• Tobin Lane
• Hope Street
• Tupelo Street
• Herzig Street
• Dolly Drive
• Patricia Ann Drive

i3 may add more streets as the project advances. At least one resident booked a 2 Gbps fiber-to-the-home installation, according to a Reddit post cited by Uprise RI.

i3 currently markets residential speeds from 250 Mbps up to 1 Gbps across all of its markets, with 8 Gbps tiers available in select areas. Bristol households must use i3's address-checking tool to determine actual availability and pricing.

Why does Rhode Island's cable market matter?

Bristol sits inside Cable Service Area 5, a franchise dating to January 1983 that today covers Bristol, Warren and Barrington. i3 already operates as the cable provider across Bristol County under state Division of Public Utilities and Carriers filings.

ConnectRI, the state's broadband agency, reported in late 2025 that 84.2% of Rhode Island addresses can get fiber-to-the-home service. Most of those locations still have only one fiber operator to choose from.

Cox Communications remains the statewide cable incumbent and is rebranding under the Spectrum name. Charter Communications filed a joint application with Rhode Island regulators in August 2025 to acquire Cox's cable operations statewide.

Who is taking control?

The September order greenlights a 50/50 joint venture announced April 28, 2026, between T-Mobile and Wren House, the entity that owns i3 Broadband through its affiliates. T-Mobile is committing roughly $700 million for its half.

State filings identify Wren House Infrastructure US L.P. as a unit managed by London-based Wren House Infrastructure Management. Rhode Island regulators describe the parent as the Kuwait Investment Authority. Wren House manages telecom, transport and energy infrastructure assets globally.

The deal is part of a wider $2.7 billion fiber push by T-Mobile. The carrier is targeting 18 million to 19 million broadband subscribers nationally by 2030 and is deploying capital alongside Oak Hill Capital in GoNetspeed and Greenlight Networks using an open-access wholesale model.

What is at stake?

i3's combined Illinois, Missouri and Rhode Island footprint is projected to pass roughly 500,000 households by the end of 2026, according to figures cited by Pulse 2.0. Closing of the joint venture remains pending; T-Mobile has projected a second-half 2026 close.

i3 has written to customers promising no price increase during the account transfer and pledging advance notice before any service changes. T-Mobile is set to absorb substantially all of i3's existing residential fiber customers once the transaction closes.

The expansion comes as Providence weighs tighter ISP oversight. State proposals would collect outage data, verify advertised speeds and monitor ISP pricing.

Cox sued ConnectRI in September 2024 over federal BEAD funding maps, a case that stalled state grants until it settled in January 2025.

The state has since pushed ahead with $52 million in broadband projects across 23 municipalities announced in May 2025, pairing $25 million in federal Capital Projects Fund grants with $27 million in private matching capital from GoNetspeed and Verizon.

ConnectRI wants universal 100/100 Mbps service statewide by 2027. In Bristol, that target now rests on horizontal boring under eight streets this fall and the closing of a $700 million deal handing i3 to T-Mobile and a Kuwait-linked infrastructure fund.