AT&T and Partners Form Joint Venture to Expand U.S. Fiber Network

AT&T, Global Infrastructure Partners, and CPP Investments issued a joint press release through PRNewswire and CNW on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. John Stankey, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, was on the page from the opening lines.

"Fiber is the definitive connectivity technology for an AI-driven world," Stankey said. "Demand for symmetrical, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity is only increasing, and this JV will bring the unmatched benefits of high-speed, reliable fiber connectivity to more Americans. By partnering with leading digital infrastructure investors, we see significant opportunity to strengthen our scale advantage in fiber, broaden availability of our award-winning services and grow our leadership in converged fiber and 5G connectivity."

Symmetrical service means upload speeds that match download speeds, the kind of two-way capacity copper lines were never built to carry at volume. Fiber moves data as light through thin glass strands, and Stankey’s line put that technology at the center of the morning’s announcement. Reuters filed a same-day wire report on the deal. Dow Jones moved one as well. The release left the investors’ statements next.

Mark Florian, Head of GIP Mid-Markets Funds at Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock, put the investors’ case in plain terms.

“Reliable, high-speed connectivity is becoming increasingly essential to how Americans work, learn and access services,” Florian said. “By bringing Gigapower and Forged Fiber 37 together, this joint venture with AT&T and CPP Investments aims to help meet growing demand for high-capacity broadband, while providing our clients with exposure to a scaled infrastructure business positioned to benefit from the long-term digitalization of the global economy.”

James Bryce, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure at CPP Investments, spoke next for the pension capital. “Demand for reliable, high-capacity connectivity continues to grow, making fiber infrastructure an increasingly important part of the digital economy,” Bryce said. “By combining AT&T’s extensive fiber expertise with strategic capital, this joint venture is well positioned to expand critical connectivity across the United States and to generate long-term investment value for the CPP Fund.”

The two statements fixed the money side of the morning’s release. What remained was the structure that would carry the bet.

The companies would merge Forged Fiber 37 and Gigapower into a single commercial open-access wholesale fiber company. AT&T would own 50 percent of the new venture. GIP and CPP Investments would collectively own the remaining 50 percent.

Nearly 5 million fiber locations would sit inside the joint venture at closing. More than 1 million subscribers would already be served from that network. The expansion plan stretched across 16 states. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, and Washington were among them. In the open-access wholesale model, the company would sell capacity on the fiber so that other internet service providers could deliver broadband services of their own over the same infrastructure. The ownership split and the wholesale design together gave AT&T a capital-light path to expand fiber beyond its traditional footprint and into major metro markets across those states. Pairing the joint venture’s construction capacity with AT&T’s distribution would let the company offer fiber internet alongside 5G wireless and grow its base of converged customers who took both.

Gigapower and Forged Fiber 37 each brought a different operating history into the combination.

Gigapower had been formed in May 2023 as AT&T’s wholesale fiber joint venture with GIP. From the outset its stated goal was to reach at least 1.5 million locations outside AT&T’s legacy wireline footprint. The platform already operated in parts of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Francisco Maella, a former Dobson and Alpheus executive, served as its CEO.

Forged Fiber 37 arrived by a shorter path. On February 2, 2026, AT&T closed its acquisition of Lumen Technologies’ mass markets fiber business and placed the fiber assets and operations into the new subsidiary. That network ran in parts of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Wes Gibson led the unit after most recently heading Lumen’s Mass Markets business. The combination now on the table aligned with AT&T’s earlier plan to bring an equity partner into Forged Fiber 37.

The two engines already shared ground in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Nevada, and each carried its own construction capacity and subscriber base into the single platform.

AT&T’s goal remained more than 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030—about 50 million owned-and-operated and 10 million via the new joint venture. The second number fixed the required speed. Reaching those 10 million locations would demand that the combined platforms roughly double their build pace, climbing toward nearly 1.5 million locations a year.

BNP Paribas analyst Sam McHugh, whose build-pace reading Fierce Network’s Linda Hardesty reported, measured the gap against that clock. “This implies that Gigapower will only have been able to build about 800,000-900,000 homes in four years since launch, implying an annual build pace of less than 250,000.” The slower engine left little margin if the 2030 split was going to hold.

Light Reading’s Jeff Baumgartner carried the analyst reaction. Roger Entner said the proposed joint venture “reaffirms AT&T’s fiber strategy,” gives AT&T more financial firepower, and shows that “scale matters” in the fiber game. “To an extent, it’s a land grab and you need to move.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. AT&T expects undisclosed proceeds at that point. The company intends to put the money toward cutting its net-debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio to about 2.5x within roughly three years, funding continued investment, and returning capital to shareholders. After the close, AT&T will not consolidate the joint venture. It will report equity income instead.

Leadership appointments will be announced nearer to closing. Francisco Maella still heads Gigapower. Wes Gibson still heads Forged Fiber 37. Neither has been superseded on the record. An AT&T official told Light Reading what the company expects once the new platform stands on its own. “Our expectation is that the company will be led by a dedicated management team with deep experience in fiber network operations, construction, and infrastructure management.”

The first half of 2027 holds the close. The dedicated fiber-operations team has not been named.