AT&T CEO on BEAD: Thumbs Up on Texas; Thumbs Down on Some Other States

AT&T sees opportunities to apply for funding in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program in Texas and some other states, but likely will not apply for funding in many others, said the company’s CEO John Stankey. Noting that each state will set up its own rules for the program, Stankey said, “I point to a state like Texas. Policy-wise, they had a pretty sound approach to things. . . We’ll probably have a good opportunity there.” Stankey added, though, that “There are a few other states where we’re not sure if the policies are going to line up effectively.” He noted that the economics for AT&T are better for the locations that the company already has targeted for organic growth. The company sees 10-15 million organic opportunities where it knows the average cost and can deploy service in "a very controlled way."