Susana SchwartzWhy AT&T-BlackRock JV open-access model matters?
Yesterday, AT&T announced it would take a 50% stake in a venture combining Gigapower with Forged Fiber 37, which holds AT&T’s Lumen’s fiber assets. The goal is to bring two distinct infrastructure entities under one open-access company.
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This joint venture with BlackRock and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board marks a shift away from closed, proprietary infrastructure. Though AT&T remains the primary “anchor tenant,” it is going to allow competing ISPs to rent space and sell to customers. This move could:
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• Unlock larger pools of government grant funding
• Help AT&T win suburban and metro markets in which it currently has no legacy home-internet presence (e.g., Arizona, Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota).
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To the first point, “BEAD” funding – in the amount of $42.5 billion – favors companies that stimulate market competition, which means that through Gigapower, AT&T and BlackRock can build networks using that funding.
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To the second point, placing Lumen’s assets into the JV enters “non-legacy territories” with nearly 5 million active fiber locations and 1 million existing subscribers.
Susana Schwartz
Technology Editor
RCRTech
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