AT&T, BlackRock To Jointly Operate Commercial Fiber Platform

(RTTNews) - AT&T (T) and BlackRock Alternatives, through a fund managed by its Diversified Infrastructure business, have signed an agreement to form a joint venture, Gigapower, LLC, that will operate a commercial fiber platform. It will provide a fiber network to internet service providers and other businesses across the U.S.

Gigapower will serve customers outside of AT&T's traditional 21-state wireline service footprint with fiber access technologies. Gigapower plans to deploy a multi-gig fiber network to an initial 1.5 million customer locations across the nation using a commercial open access platform.

AT&T does not expect to consolidate Gigapower's financial results but does expect to report its consumer subscribers served through Gigapower in Consumer Wireline business unit operational results.