AT&T hasn’t been too forthcoming about where exactly it is planning to build fiber as part of its quest to hit 1.5 million passings through its Gigapower joint venture with private equity firm BlackRock. To date, it has named only Mesa, Arizona as one of its build markets, but Fierce uncovered recently signed agreements with three more cities.
Gigapower locked in its deal with Mesa in September 2022. Just a few months later, in January 2023, it snagged a license agreements with the adjacent cities of Chandler and Gilbert. All three markets are located in the Phoenix metro area, with the Chandler and Gilbert sitting just south of the Mesa.
Under its agreement with Chandler, Gigapower is set to build fiber to the home infrastructure “throughout the majority” of the city “within five years.” There, it will be up against Google Fiber, which inked its own deal with the city in early February, as well as Cox Communications, CenturyLink (aka Lumen), Wyyerd Connect and Orbitel Communications.
Chandler has a population of more than 275,000, with more than 100,000 households. Gilbert’s population is just under 275,000 and it has more than 88,000 households, U.S. Census Bureau data showed.
Gigapower also appears to be targeting an expansion to Nevada as well. Earlier this month, the City of Las Vegas inked a non-exclusive franchise agreement with the company.
Las Vegas has a significantly larger population than the markets in Arizona, with the Census Bureau pegging this at more than 645,000. It has approximately 236,000 households. According to BroadbandNow, Cox Communications and Lumen are the incumbent provider in Las Vegas, with Rise Broadband and LV.Net also offering service there.
Both areas – the Phoenix metro and Las Vegas – appear ripe for broadband disruption, given they were ranked among the bottom 25 cities in terms of median download speeds in Ookla’s Q1 2023 ranking.