AT&T eyes higher fiber target and fixed wireless access as DSL replacement

AT&T CEO John Stankey conceded the operator’s plans for fixed wireless access (FWA) technology may not be as ambitious as those of its competitors, but he noted the technology could end up being a good replacement for legacy DSL connections. He said the use of FWA could also allow it to decommission legacy infrastructure over time. “We have a voice replacement service now that can be in there, and so that allows us to look at our options around footprint that used to be in place and fixed costs that used to be there and begin the work of starting to shed some of that footprint and reduce the number of square miles that have that fixed infrastructure in place that really you’re never going to have an incentive to ultimately upgrade to fiber,” Stankey said. Recently AT&T announced it would ramp capital investments and double its fiber footprint to 30 million customer locations by end-2025. Stankey hinted the 30 million target could grow as vendor costs improve, demand for connectivity increases and the operator gets “up the learning curve further.” When an AT&T fixed wireless product would be ubiquitous across the operator’s footprint, Stankey pegged the 2023 timeframe for covering most people in the US.