Gigapower fiber JV sets expansion into Minneapolis-St. Paul

Gigapower, the AT&T-BlackRock joint venture, has identified several towns in the southern Minneapolis-St. Paul area as expansion targets for a multi-gigabit fiber network that will be underpinned by an "open access" framework.

Gigapower's expansion there will include Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Eagan, Savage, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Farmington, Lakeville, Rosemont and Shakopee.

Those areas will join other markets that Gigapower has identified for a phase one network build that includes Las Vegas, three cities in Arizona (Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert), parts of northeastern Pennsylvania (including Wilkes-Barre and Scranton) and areas of Alabama and Florida. Gigapower has also identified Albuquerque, New Mexico, as an expansion market.

The JV did not say when it will start building and launch services in the Minnesota expansion markets, but it launched a website that enables consumers to be alerted about future service availability.

Light Reading has asked Gigapower for additional details about the expected deployment and service launch timelines for southern Minneapolis-St. Paul, and an update on its build activity in the other previously identified markets. Last year, Gigapower execs said the JV expects to complete the phase one build sometime in 2025. AT&T, Gigapower's anchor tenant, is already offering service on the Gigapower network in Arizona, Florida and Nevada, according to Fierce Telecom.

Related:AT&T-BlackRock fiber JV IDs initial wave of build markets

Gigapower is initially looking to build fiber to 1.5 million locations that fall outside AT&T's wireline footprint, though the JV has indicated it has an appetite to expand that number. Gigapower has also expressed interest in participating in the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Pushing ahead with the open access model

Gigapower will employ an open access model that allows others to sell services via its fiber networks. AT&T, naturally, will be Gigapower's first anchor tenant. JV execs said last year that Gigapower has been approached by several ISPs outside of AT&T that are interested in providing services over its network, but it has yet to identify any new open access partners.

But that list includes cable operators and "non-facility-based ISPs," Gigapower CEO Bill Hogg told Light Reading last year.

"We certainly anticipate that there will be a portfolio of ISPs that we'll have in a particular market," he said then. "What we want to try to do is find a good complementary group of ISPs that go after segments that they otherwise might not be going after and maybe have a bundle or a proposition that would be unique for that particular ISP and be successful in the marketplace."

Related:AT&T, BlackRock close 'Gigapower' fiber JV deal

Gigapower is basing its multi-gigabit fiber network on XGS-PON technology and has suggested that the resulting platform will be software-upgradable to deliver up to 20 Gbit/s.