AT&T’s Digital Redlining Leaving Communities Behind for Profit

AT&T has made fiber-to-the-home available to fewer than a third of the households in its footprint. Across rural counties in AT&T’s footprint, only 5 percent of households have access to fiber. For 28 percent of the households in its network footprint, AT&T’s internet service does not meet the FCC’s 25/3 Mbps benchmark to be considered broadband. AT&T prioritizes network upgrades to wealthier areas, leaving lower income communities with outdated technologies -- households with fiber available have median income 34 percent higher than those with DSL only. Of technicians with knowledge of AT&T’s fiber plant, 93 percent strongly agreed or agreed that AT&T could be building more fiber.  Of techs with knowledge of fiber deployment, 63 percent (546/869) report that in their work areas, AT&T is not installing splitting equipment to enable home connections even where a fiber backbone exists.