AT&T COO McElfresh: 50 Million homes ‘deserve’ fiber

AT&T is on a quest to deploy fiber broadband to 30 million locations by the end of 2025. But if comments from COO Jeff McElfresh are any indication, its ultimate goal could be much, much higher. McElfresh said that despite a choppy economic environment, demand for fiber remains high and its rollout is still delivering the right level of returns. With that in mind, he added, the 30 million target AT&T set in May 2021 is “not the entirety of what I think the market opportunity is there.” “We're going to be on this journey for a while. I mean we think there's 50 million homes, urban, suburban in America that deserve fiber,” McElfresh stated. “We're playing a long game. We're not sitting here looking at just this year or next year.” It’s not entirely clear how AT&T plans to reach those extra 20 million homes, but there are a few likely possibilities. First, the operator recently announced plans to bring fiber to an additional 1.5 million locations outside its footprint through a joint venture with private equity firm BlackRock Alternatives. AT&T CEO John Stankey has indicated that the passings figure could grow if it is able to successfully prove out the joint venture’s business model. McElfresh also pointed to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program as another avenue for expansion beyond its target, reiterating the operator’s previously expressed interest in grant funding. AT&T is also pursuing state and local grant opportunities. The operator had already identified well over $1 billion in prime grant opportunities but said there was no limit to how much funding it might chase.