AT&T, BlackRock in Joint Venture for Fiber Network Expansion (1)

AT&T Inc. and a unit of BlackRock Inc. agreed to form a joint venture that provides internet services to customers outside of AT&T’s traditional 21-state local phone territory.

The new venture, called Gigapower LLC, aims to provide a best-in-class fiber network to internet service providers and other businesses across the US, the companies said Friday in a statement. They are targeting 1.5 million customer locations initially.

AT&T had for months been looking for an infrastructure partner that could help invest billions of dollars in fiber-optic network expansion. The company is embarking on its biggest plan yet to pursue broadband ...