AT&T Executive Sees an Out-of-Region Fiber Opportunity that No One Else Shares

AT&T is looking to expand fiber beyond its traditional local exchange carrier service territory, said AT&T Chief Operating Officer Jeff McElfresh. AT&T already did an out-of-region fiber deployment in Mesa (AZ) and apparently is sufficiently satisfied with the results so far to consider doing more of the same. McElfresh noted that AT&T operates in two different realms – as a “nationwide wireless company that has a point of presence everywhere [and] distribution everywhere” and as a “fixed wireline based local exchange carrier, telco.” He sees the company’s nationwide wireless presence as an asset for a potential out-of-region expansion. “We’ve got a really good wireless market presence, so our brand is known, and we’ve got scale as the largest builder of fiber in this country,” he said. That fiber service is future proof, he said, and the company has the opportunity to provide an end-to-end fiber connection from the internet to the customer.