AT&T’s CEO John Stankey plans to be first and biggest on fiber

Immediately after Verizon announced that it was buying Frontier Communications, people started saying “the race for fiber assets is on!”  And perhaps they are right because AT&T and BlackRock announced they want to grow their Gigapower fiber joint venture more than originally planned. AT&T also announced four new partnerships to expand its fiber network faster. AT&T said it selected each company because they provide opportunities to expand AT&T Fiber to new service areas without existing fiber options.

• With Boldyn Networks, AT&T will focus on providing network infrastructure at more than 75 U.S. Armed Forces bases nationwide across all military branches. Boldyn Networks is initially building at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and joint bases in San Antonio, Texas.
• Digital Infrastructure Group is a U.S. and Canada-based wholesale fiber developer, which is currently expanding into new regions across the U.S.
• PRIME FiBER is a new open-access fiber provider. AT&T says its agreement with PRIME FiBER builds on its long-time relationship with Prime Communications, which is AT&T’s largest authorized retailer. PRIME FiBER is initially building in Florida.
• And finally, Ubiquity will be providing access for AT&T to its multifamily communities and private homeowners' associations on a targeted basis nationally. It will also build exclusive greenfield areas for AT&T, initially in Minnesota.

AT&T CEO John Stankey said AT&T’s fiber strategy includes building more fiber, doing the JV with Gigapower and creating partnerships with other open-access fiber providers.