CWA released a new report yesterday which exposes the harmful and dangerous business model underpinning broadband company Gigapower, a joint venture between AT&T and investment giant BlackRock. As the City of Phoenix considers a licensing agreement with the private-equity backed broadband company, The Gigapower Gamble: How AT&T and BlackRock are Undermining Broadband Quality, Safety and Jobs in Arizona highlights considerable evidence of substandard practices from subcontractors already working on the project in Arizona.
CWA has found evidence that Gigapower does not appear to employ any technicians or telecommunications workers building the network, despite the fact that the company is co-owned by AT&T, which has a robust and highly trained union-represented workforce. Instead, Gigapower relies on contractors who do not provide workers adequate training, and have track records of labor law and safety violations.
“AT&T’s decision to partner with BlackRock and use a web of non-union contractors is undercutting wages and working conditions negotiated over decades by the company’s union-represented workforce,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “Instead of continuing its proud legacy of raising standards in the telecom industry, AT&T is encouraging a race to the bottom by having Gigapower subcontract to the lowest bidders–often small, untested companies. The results so far have been troubling.”
“Fiber deployment requires dangerous and technical construction work in the public right of way, including excavation, drilling, and trenching, near critical infrastructure such as gas and electrical lines,” said CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister.
In Mesa, Ariz., where Gigapower broke ground in January 2023, project managers selected telecom construction firm Ansco & Associates as its primary contractor. In turn, Ansco further subcontracted the deployment infrastructure work to at least nineteen different contractors. CWA has found Gigapower contractors responsible for at least 40 underground utility hits, including electric, gas, water/sewer, and telecommunications, accruing over $135k in damage in just 18 months.
