--- title: "AT&T posts a record 769,000 internet net adds while its fiber crews picket in nine states" description: "The company's first quarterly print since GIP and CPP Investments agreed to buy half its wholesale fiber venture lands a record 769,000 internet net adds, $32.3 billion of revenue and a $2.6 billion Mexico impairment, one day after fiber technicians picketed in nine states." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Markets" published: 2026-10-21T14:32:49.904Z modified: 2026-10-21T14:32:49.904Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/at-t-posts-a-record-769-000-internet-net-adds-while-its-fiber-crews-picket-in-nine-states language: en keywords: "Telecom, Earnings, Labor, Fiber, Infrastructure" --- # AT&T posts a record 769,000 internet net adds while its fiber crews picket in nine states > The company's first quarterly print since GIP and CPP Investments agreed to buy half its wholesale fiber venture lands a record 769,000 internet net adds, $32.3 billion of revenue and a $2.6 billion Mexico impairment, one day after fiber technicians picketed in nine states. [AT&T](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/at-and-t)'s fiber network set a subscriber record on Tuesday, and the crews who build it spent the day before on a picket line outside it. The company's [8-K, filed October 21, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271726000370/0000732717-26-000370-index.htm), shows 769,000 Advanced Connectivity internet net adds in the third quarter, a company record, split between 442,000 fiber and 327,000 fixed wireless, with 379,000 postpaid phone adds on top [1]. *Chart: **The record 769,000 internet adds rest on fiber and fixed wireless in roughly equal parts** Column chart comparing 442,000 fiber net adds, 327,000 fixed wireless net adds and 379,000 postpaid phone net adds* *Third-quarter 2026 net adds in thousands, from AT&T's 8-K exhibit 99.1 filed October 21, 2026. [1]* ## The record quarter, in numbers Revenue reached $32.3 billion, up 5.3% year over year, helped by the Lumen mass-markets fiber acquisition that closed in February [1]. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.65 against $0.54 a year ago, and free cash flow was $5.0 billion [1]. The convergence pitch is working: 42.8% of households with AT&T's advanced home internet also take its wireless [1]. But the quarter also booked a $2.6 billion non-cash impairment on [the Mexico wireless business AT&T agreed to sell on October 13](https://theinference.org/article/at-t-sells-mexican-wireless-to-televisa-and-fintech-holdings-for-2-billion-after-a-10-billion-decade), and total debt stands at $159.6 billion after the [EchoStar](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/echostar) spectrum closing [1]. *Chart: **$32.3 billion is AT&T's biggest quarter outside the seasonal fourth-quarter peak on record here** Line chart of AT&T quarterly revenue from Q1 2024 to Q3 2026, rising to $32.3 billion* *AT&T quarterly revenue in billions of dollars, Q1 2024 through Q2 2026 from its SEC filings [4], Q3 2026 from the 8-K exhibit 99.1 filed October 21, 2026 [1]. [1][4]* *Chart: **Fiber carries the growth: Advanced Connectivity EBITDA dwarfs Legacy and Latin America** Bar chart of third-quarter 2026 segment EBITDA: Advanced Connectivity $12.33 billion, Legacy $0.50 billion, Latin America $0.24 billion* *Third-quarter 2026 segment EBITDA in millions of dollars, from AT&T's 8-K exhibit 99.1 filed October 21, 2026. Advanced Connectivity includes the Lumen mass-markets fiber business acquired in February. [1]* ## Who owns the fiber now Two weeks ago AT&T [agreed to sell half of its wholesale fiber operation](https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20261006da64734/att-global-infrastructure-partners-and-cpp-investments-to-form-new-fiber-joint-venture), combining Forged Fiber 37, the former Lumen build engine, with Gigapower, into a joint venture owned 50/50 with [BlackRock](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/blackrock)'s Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada's CPP Investments [2]. The deal funds the build toward 60 million fiber locations by 2030 on a capital-light basis, and AT&T guided long-term capital investment down to $22–23 billion a year for 2027–2028 while promising $45 billion-plus of shareholder returns through 2028 [1][2]. ## The labor fight under the build On October 20, fiber technicians and facility specialists at Forged Fiber [picketed across nine states](https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/forged-fiber-technicians-and-facility-specialists-launch-multi-state-picket-ahead), demanding a fair contract and protesting AT&T's plan to outsource the work to non-union contractors; the CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge in August [3]. Copper, meanwhile, is being shut off on schedule: legacy revenue is guided down more than 20% this year, with legacy EBITDA turning negative after 2027 [1]. Fiber carries the whole growth story, and the people hanging it are now bargaining with the structure half-owned by pension capital. ## What decides it Watch three dated events: regulatory approval of the JV sale, expected to close in the first half of 2027 [2]; the NLRB case over bargaining, docketed August 12, 2026 [3]; and whether the 60-million-location 2030 target holds while capex falls [1]. The network is priced as an AI-era asset. [The picket line](https://theinference.org/article/at-t-fiber-crews-picket-as-blackrock-s-gip-and-canada-s-pension-fund-agree-to-buy-half-the-venture) is the counterparty's ledger on that price. ## Takeaway AT&T's record 769,000 internet adds and $32.3 billion quarter arrive one day after fiber crews picketed in nine states, with the wholesale build now half-owned by GIP and CPP Investments. ## Sources 1. [AT&T Inc., Form 8-K and Exhibit 99.1, third-quarter 2026 results, filed 21 October 2026, SEC EDGAR](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271726000370/0000732717-26-000370-index.htm) 2. [PR Newswire via Morningstar, AT&T, Global Infrastructure Partners, and CPP Investments to Form New Fiber Joint Venture, 6 October 2026](https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20261006da64734/att-global-infrastructure-partners-and-cpp-investments-to-form-new-fiber-joint-venture) 3. [Communications Workers of America, Forged Fiber Technicians and Facility Specialists Launch Multi-State Picket Ahead of AT&T's 50% Sale of Network to BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, 19 October 2026](https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/forged-fiber-technicians-and-facility-specialists-launch-multi-state-picket-ahead) 4. [AT&T, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 21 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000732717) --- AT&T posts a record 769,000 internet net adds while its fiber crews picket in nine states — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/at-t-posts-a-record-769-000-internet-net-adds-while-its-fiber-crews-picket-in-nine-states