AT&T fiber crews picket as BlackRock's GIP and Canada's pension fund agree to buy half the venture

The crews who came with the network are walking picket lines

Fiber technicians and facility specialists at Forged Fiber 37, the AT&T▲+1.36% — AT&T, up 1.36 percent today unit holding the network bought from Lumen Technologies▼−0.11% — Lumen Technologies, down 0.11 percent today, launch informational pickets today, Tuesday October 20, across seven states↗: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Utah and Washington ¹. The crews transferred when AT&T closed its purchase of Lumen's Mass Markets fiber business on February 2, 2026 ². Their union, the Communications Workers of America, says AT&T is shifting infrastructure work to non-union contractors, and the National Labor Relations Board has an open case, 27-CA-392918↗, alleging Forged Fiber 37 refuses to bargain in good faith ¹³. The buyers are inheriting a labor complaint that predates their purchase.

Half the venture sells, at a price no one has named

On October 6, AT&T agreed to fold Forged Fiber 37 and Gigapower↗, its fiber venture with BlackRock▲+0.21% — BlackRock, up 0.21 percent today since 2023, into one wholesale network company ². AT&T keeps 50%; Global Infrastructure Partners, BlackRock's infrastructure arm, and CPP Investments, which manages C$863.6 billion for Canada's national pension plan, take the rest ². Closing is expected in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approval ². AT&T expects proceeds and aims them at a 2.5-times leverage target and shareholder returns, but it has not named a figure ²⁴. GIP and CPP Investments underwrite the build, AT&T banks undisclosed proceeds and keeps its fiber pace, and the ex-Lumen crews carry the contractor-model risk that marked Gigapower ². The venture starts with nearly five million fiber locations across 16 states and is AT&T's primary partner for reaching the 60 million locations it targets by the end of 2030 ²; joint ventures already carried nearly 13% of its fiber locations in the second quarter ¹.

The first venture is the union's exhibit

Gigapower, launched in May 2023, deploys with an entirely subcontracted workforce ¹. CWA's July report↗, drawn from municipal records and court filings, found the Albuquerque build at roughly a fifth of its forecast by late 2025, ten stop-work orders in one Minneapolis suburb, a default notice in Las Vegas, and a former prime contractor's $200 million claim sold to a litigation funder ⁵. AT&T's counter is that the deal pairs Gigapower with Forged Fiber's "established fiber construction engine" of ex-Lumen crews, on a capital-light path; CEO John Stankey calls fiber "the definitive connectivity technology for an AI-driven world" ².

Tomorrow's print, and the number to ask for

AT&T reports third-quarter results before the open on Wednesday October 21; consensus is $0.60 a share on $31.65 billion of revenue↗, though more analysts have cut estimates than raised them ⁶. Forged Fiber 37 will sit in discontinued operations until the sale closes ², so the venture's economics stay outside continuing results. The tell on the call is whether AT&T names a price for the half it is selling.