DALLAS, 9 September 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Continued expansion at Gigapower and new agreements with commercial open access providers will enable world-class broadband access to new service areas

Key findings:

• America’s largest fiber optic provider¹ brings high-speed fiber optic internet to more people and new regions through the continued expansion of Gigapower’s fiber coverage and four new agreements with commercial open access providers.
• Because of its proven leadership in fiber optics, AT&T is clearly the preferred provider for the builder of commercial open access fiber.

AT&T, the largest fiber optic provider in the US¹is expanding wherever it can deliver world-class fiber, reaching more people and places across the country than anyone else.

To bring fiber to more Americans, AT&T is pursuing a number of economically attractive models that complement its primary goal of organically expanding its fiber network throughout its service area. These other models include: the Gigapower joint venture with BlackRock through a fund managed by its Diversified Infrastructure business, commercial open access agreements, and public-private partnerships supported by government infrastructure funds through programs such as BEAD.

The company already serves more than 8.8 million AT&T Fiber customers and reaches over 28 million total fiber locations for residential and business customers. Customers continue to show that they love AT&T Fiber, with AT&T being voted the best fiber provider in the country according to the 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index.² and AT&T Fiber is America’s fastest Internet with the most reliable speeds according to Ookla³.

By continuing to build out fiber, AT&T can provide its customers with the service they want with 5G and fiber connections from a single provider. Today, about four in 10 AT&T fiber homes choose AT&T’s wireless service. AT&T’s mobility business also performs better where it offers fiber. AT&T’s share of postpaid phone customers is about 500 basis points higher than its national average subscriber share where the company offers AT&T fiber.

AT&T continues to focus on growth in the areas where it offers fiber, both in existing and new service areas. Although AT&T Fiber is still in the early stages of scaling, performance in Gigapower areas is showing positive momentum. Key business trends include:

• AT&T’s fiber penetration is exceeding its original business plan.
• Greater utilization of fiber speed tiers greater than 1 gigabit compared to AT&T Fiber customers located in the company’s service area.
• Increased customer convergence: AT&T Fiber customers in Gigapower areas can use AT&T wireless services at rates that match or exceed those of the average AT&T Fiber customer base.
• Scaling the build cadence with plans to exit 2024 on an accelerated trajectory.

Based on this performance, AT&T and BlackRock plan to expand Gigapower and are exploring opportunities to expand Gigapower’s fiber coverage beyond the initial 1.5 million locations that will be available in December 2022This Gigapower expansion can include both growth in existing regions and the development of new regions.

“AT&T is America’s largest and leading fiber optic provider,” said John StankeyCEO of AT&T“With our organic fiber buildout, we are seeing increasing revenues as we expand our network. Gigapower is making good progress in new service areas, and we are targeting additional growth regions with the joint venture and other commercial open access agreements. Customers tell us they want a high-performance wireless and broadband experience from a single provider, and AT&T is best positioned to meet this growing need.”

“BlackRock is proud to partner with AT&T to bring high-speed internet to more American households,” said Larry FinkChairman and CEO of BlackRock“This ongoing investment in Gigapower on behalf of our customers helps bridge the digital divide and support economic growth in communities across America by expanding access to critical broadband services.”

AT&T is the proven leader in fiber and the clear provider of choice for commercial open access fiber providers. AT&T offers fiber providers a winning fiber formula. The company is able to offer commercial open access providers a unique combination of network architecture expertise, a cost-efficient growth path and an agile go-to-market approach to efficiently penetrate fiber build-out projects with a wireless cross-sell base and more distribution points than any competitor.

To help AT&T Fiber reach even more people in regions not covered by the AT&T network or Gigapower, AT&T is announcing four new agreements with commercial open access providers: Boldyn Networks, Digital Infrastructure Group, PRIME FiBER and Ubiquity. These fiber agreements provide AT&T with wholesale access to these fiber broadband networks and enable the company to offer both AT&T Fiber and 5G wireless services to more customers.

Each company AT&T partners with was selected because they offer opportunities to expand AT&T fiber distribution to new service areas where there are no existing fiber options. As these providers add fiber sites, AT&T will evaluate where it wants to offer AT&T fiber.

• Boldyn Networks is a trusted provider across a wide range of industries including transportation, venues, government, mixed-use developments and corporate. Their portfolio also includes a significant focus on the U.S. Armed Forces, providing network infrastructure on more than 75 bases across the country for all military branches. This agreement builds on our existing collaboration with Boldyn to modernize communications on military bases, including the deployment of fiber optic, FirstNet and 5G communications. Boldyn Networks is initially building at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texasand joint bases in San Antonio, Texas.
• Digital Infrastructure Group is an American and Canada-based developer and operator of fiber optic wholesale networks with extensive broadband experience in international markets, currently expanding into new regions in the United States.
• PRIME FiBERbacked by InLight Capital, is a newly formed commercial open access fiber infrastructure provider serving Internet service providers, infrastructure consolidators and enterprises across the United States. Our agreement with PRIME FiBER builds on our successful, long-standing relationship with Prime Communications, our largest authorized retailer, and provides additional fiber distribution benefits. PRIME FiBER is initially building in Florida.
• ubiquity has built one of the largest commercial open access fiber optic networks in the country and has expanded it significantly over the past two years. Ubiquity will provide access to AT&T throughout its multi-state service area and will bring fiber to targeted private access sites such as multi-family housing and private homeowner associations (HOAs) across the country. The company will also build exclusive greenfield areas for AT&T, initially in Minnesota.

AT&T continues to organically and at scale build out fiber across its service area and remains on track to deploy fiber to over 30 million consumer and business locations by the end of 2025. The better-than-expected returns the company is achieving on its fiber investments potentially increase the ability to exceed that goal by approximately 10 to 15 million additional locations across the service area. This also assumes similar construction parameters and a regulatory environment that remains attractive for building out infrastructure.

To learn more about AT&T’s leadership in fiber optics and converged connectivity, please tune in for a fireside chat with AT&T CEO, John Stankeyat the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 11:10 a.m. ET To 10 September. The webcast of Stankey’s call will be available live and replay from AT&T Investor Relations.

¹ Based on the number of households with fiber optic connection to the home using publicly available data.
² Compared to measured Internet service providers in the 2024 ACSI® Telecommunications Study, in which customers rate their own ISP. ACSI and its logo are registered trademarks of American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC.
³ Based on analysis of Ookla® nationwide Speedtest Intelligence® data, including Speed ​​Score, Consistency Score, and average consumer ratings for Q1–Q2 2024. Ookla trademarks are used under license and reprinted with permission.

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Source: AT&T