SoftBank Clears a Rare Regulatory Hurdle to Own U.S. Broadband — But Can a $4 Billion Bet on Physical Infrastructure Steady a Stock Down 12% in a Week?

Shares of SoftBank Group shifted sharply higher Wednesday after the last major regulatory barrier fell for Masayoshi Son's push into American internet infrastructure. The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau on July 27 approved the transfer of regional internet provider WideOpenWest to SoftBank, clearing the way for WOW! to become one of the first U.S. broadband operators with majority Japanese ownership. The approval removes the final overhang on a deal that hands Son a rare, tangible American asset — but the stock still trades well below its levels from just days ago.

A $4 Billion Deal Gets Much More Than a Small-Town ISP. The acquisition is tied into SoftBank's $4 billion purchase of DigitalBridge Group , a digital infrastructure firm that manages $108 billion of infrastructure assets across cell towers, data centers, fiber networks, and edge computing. WOW! is one piece of that haul. The broadband provider has roughly 465,000 subscribers

across 20 markets in the Midwest and Southeast, with new all-fiber networks expanding in central Florida and South Carolina. Investors aren't just pricing in a regional cable company — they're pricing in the broader DigitalBridge portfolio, which includes data center brands critical to the AI buildout.

Washington Waved It Through Unusually Fast. The Department of Justice passed on a national security review , and the FCC declined to refer the transaction to its foreign-ownership screening panel, finding no "special circumstances" warranting further investigation. For a Japanese company taking majority control of a U.S. internet operator, that's a remarkably smooth path — and it signals Washington's comfort with SoftBank as Son delivers on his pledge to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects during the Trump administration.

The Stock's Bounce Comes After a Brutal Slide. SFTBY trades at $15.43, up 7.6% intraday but still down roughly 12.7% from $17.67 just five sessions ago. The broader backdrop has been volatile: SoftBank sank 8% in a June tech selloff, then surged over 10% on geopolitical relief. Today's rally may reflect investors deciding the regulatory green light removes deal risk, but the stock needs to recover substantially more ground to undo recent damage.

The Real Question Is Execution. SoftBank has sought to aggressively invest in the generative AI boom, but the debt-laden company has struggled to fund its ambitions.

Crestview Partners retains a 37% stake in WOW!, and the broader DigitalBridge deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Son's track record — from Arm's triumph to WeWork's bankruptcy — means shareholders will want proof that owning hard infrastructure delivers returns, not just headlines.