AT&T and BlackRock to Form Gigapower Joint Venture – A Wholesale Fiber Services Provider
23 December 2022 - 10:45PM
Business Wire
AT&T* (NYSE:T) and BlackRock Alternatives (BlackRock),
through a fund managed by its Diversified Infrastructure business,
have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that
will operate a commercial fiber platform. The newly formed joint
venture — Gigapower, LLC — expects to provide a best-in-class fiber
network to internet service providers (ISPs) and other businesses
across the United States.
Gigapower will serve customers outside of AT&T’s traditional
21-state wireline service footprint with fiber access technologies
in innovative and efficient ways. And AT&T will leverage its
nationwide wireless sales capabilities to sell fiber to customers
in Gigapower territories.
“Now more than ever, people are recognizing that connecting
changes everything,” said John Stankey, CEO of AT&T. “With this
joint venture, more customers and communities outside of our
traditional service areas will receive the social and economic
benefits of the world’s most durable and capable technology to
access all the internet has to offer.”
“We are excited to form the Gigapower joint venture in
partnership with AT&T, which will be serving as not only a
joint owner but also the first wholesale tenant. We believe
Gigapower’s fiber infrastructure designed as a commercial open
access platform will more efficiently connect communities across
the United States with critical broadband services,” said Mark
Florian, Global Head of Diversified Infrastructure, BlackRock. “We
look forward to partnering with Gigapower’s highly experienced
management team to support the company’s fiber deployment plans and
shared infrastructure business model.”
Gigapower plans to deploy a reliable, multi-gig fiber network to
an initial 1.5 million customer locations across the nation using a
commercial open access platform. The Gigapower fiber deployment
will be incremental to AT&T’s existing target of 30
million-plus fiber locations, including business locations, by the
end of 2025. Combined with existing efforts within AT&T’s
21-state footprint, this capital efficient network deployment will
advance efforts to bridge the digital divide, ultimately helping to
provide the fast and highly secure internet people need. This
network expansion will also help spur local economies in each of
the communities in which Gigapower operates.
“Fiber is the lifeblood of digital commerce,” said Bill Hogg,
CEO of Gigapower. “We have a proven team of professionals building
this scalable, commercial open access wireline fiber network. Our
goal is to help local service providers provide fiber connectivity,
create the communications infrastructure needed to power the next
generation of services and bring multi-gig capabilities to help
close the gap for those who currently are without multi-gig
service.”
Following close, AT&T and BlackRock will jointly own and
govern Gigapower. 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. Any impacts to AT&T’s 2023
capital investment or free cash flow forecast will be included in
AT&T’s 2023 financial guidance when it announces fourth-quarter
2022 results in January 2023.
This transaction is subject to customary closing conditions,
including regulatory approvals. Additional terms were not
disclosed.
*About AT&T
We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and
neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses, connect to greater
possibility. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G
wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate
to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc.
(NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn
more at investors.att.com.
About BlackRock Alternatives
BlackRock Alternatives serves investors seeking outperformance
in infrastructure, private equity, credit, real estate, hedge funds
and alternative solutions. We strive to bring our investors the
highest quality investments by drawing upon our global footprint,
superior execution capabilities and position as a preferred
partner. BlackRock manages $313 billion in alternative investments
and commitments on behalf of clients worldwide as of September 30,
2022.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
Information set forth in this news release contains financial
estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to
risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ
materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results
is contained in AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise
statements contained in this news release based on new information
or otherwise. This news release may contain certain non-GAAP
financial measures. Reconciliations between the non-GAAP financial
measures and the GAAP financial measures are available on the
company’s website at https://investors.att.com.
© 2022 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
AT&T and the Globe logo are registered trademarks of AT&T
Intellectual Property.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221223005039/en/
For more information, contact: Fletcher Cook AT&T
Inc. Phone: (214) 912-8541 Email: fletcher.cook@att.com
Brittany Siwald AT&T Corporate Communications Phone: (214)
202-6630 Email: brittany.a.siwald@att.com
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