By Will Feuer

AT&T Inc. and BlackRock Alternatives said they have agreed to form a joint venture, called Gigapower LLC, that will operate a commercial-fiber platform.

The joint venture will serve customers outside of AT&T's traditional 21-state wireline service footprint, the company said Friday. Gigapower plans to deploy its fiber network to an initial 1.5 million customer locations across the U.S. using a commercial open access platform.

The Gigapower fiber deployment will help AT&T achieve its existing target of serving more than 30 million fiber locations, including business locations, by the end of 2025, the company said.

"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," AT&T Chief Executive John Stankey said.

The companies didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal.

AT&T said it expects to report its consumer subscribers served through Gigapower in its Consumer Wireline business unit's operational results. Any effect the venture might have on AT&T's 2023 capital investment planning or free-cash flow forecast will be included in full-year guidance next month, the company said.

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 23, 2022 07:19 ET (12:19 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
AT&T (NYSE:T)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more AT&T Charts.
AT&T (NYSE:T)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more AT&T Charts.