By Jeff Baumgartner; Light Reading ~  Mar 14, 2022

AT&T might want to reconsider a plan to decommission about half of its legacy copper network by 2025, as its wireline network still carries strategic value against AT&T’s mobile rivals, an industry analyst suggests.

AT&T believes the copper assets tagged for retirement carry a cost of $6 billion annually, but “[w]e wonder whether retiring copper assets could be a mistake,” New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin explained in a research note. “The single biggest advantage they have over the national wireless carriers is their large fixed footprint.”

At its analyst and investor day held last week, AT&T execs suggested that DSL subscribers tied into those legacy copper networks could be moved to other products, including fixed wireless. However, New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin suggests that AT&T could instead ramp up fiber buildouts and upgrades to 45 million locations nationwide, and possibly back that strategy with the billions of dollars flowing out of government subsidy programs.

“An integrated fiber and wireless network would go a long way to curing their spectrum shortfall and improving their offering, in markets with fiber,” Chaplin added. “Cable has a place in the endgame by virtue of a nationwide terrestrial network today (far easier to attach spectrum to fiber than build a fiber network under spectrum). AT&T is the next best positioned because they have the largest terrestrial footprint that they can upgrade.”

By Sara Winegardner; Cablefaxnknown ~ Mar 11, 2022

AT&T is working to complete its transformation back into a pure connectivity company, laying out the first part of a two-act plan at its investor day Friday that it hopes will set it apart from the competition.

Discovery shareholders voted to approve the company’s merger with WarnerMedia to create Warner Bros. Discovery, keeping it on track to close in 2Q22. AT&T CEO John Stankey admitted that after reducing the company’s investment in entertainment, more work has to be done to differentiate AT&T as a connectivity provider. Taking a jab at previous management teams, he clarified that transformative M&A is not a core part of that equation. Instead, the focus is on developing software and additional capabilities that can lay on top of the network and provide more value to customers.

“When our first act is done, we’ll be a more focused, agile and capable domestic network leader. We’ll be a company with a smaller product portfolio built on the back of fiber in the core metropolitan and suburban areas combined with a highly capable nationwide wireless network able to extend even greater capabilities and utility than ever before beyond our core,” Stankey said in an opening statement.

Company leadership maintained its previously-stated guidance of 30 million fiber locations by 2025, breaking it down further to 3.5-4 million new fiber locations per year. That estimate is on the conservative side and could increase as AT&T continues its buildouts. The provider currently counts 16 million fiber locations and is looking to retire approximately half of its copper assets as it pushes more of its footprint onto fiber. Of the locations within its footprint that are left, 75% will be covered with fiber. New Street Research said in a note reacting to the presentation that it isn’t sure that retiring those copper assets is the right decision.

By Mike Dano; Light Reading ~  Mar 11, 2022

AT&T on Friday hosted a two-and-a-half hour online analyst and investor meeting where the company laid out its broad strategy to exit the media industry and double down on selling 5G and fiber connections.

During the event, the company offered some of its financial and business expectations for 2022 and 2023, and several company officials discussed exactly how AT&T plans to reach its goals.

Perhaps the primary element of AT&T’s strategy involves shutting down its copper-based DSL network and building out fiber to roughly 30 million locations in the next few years. “Wherever fiber goes, wireless follows,” boasted Jeff McElfresh, CEO, AT&T Communications.

That said, AT&T did offer some new insights into its maturing 5G strategy. Here are four 5G takeaways from AT&T’s event:

By Jeff Baumgartner; Light Reading ~ Jan 24, 2022

AT&T announced Monday that it has launched symmetrical 2-Gig and 5-Gig residential and business broadband services to more than 70 US markets, a big speed upgrade that will put more pressure on cable rivals to accelerate their own multi-gig moves.

Here’s how pricing on AT&T’s new multi-gig tiers for residential and small business customers stack up:

Residential 2-Gig for $110 per month, or business 2-Gig for $225 per month
Residential 5-Gig for $180 per month, or business 5-Gig for $395 per month.

AT&T is also bundling in HBO Max and its ActiveArmor Internet security service with its multi-gig fiber tiers. AT&T Fiber also offers symmetrical speeds of 1-Gig (starting at $80 per month), 500 Mbit/s (starting at $65 per month) and 300 Mbit/s (starting at $55 per month).

The company noted that, as part of the new “straightforward pricing” for its consumer AT&T Fiber portfolio, all of its FTTP speed tiers are uncapped, charge no added equipment fees and don’t require annual contracts. AT&T is also promising to keep prices locked for 12 months. AT&T is rolling out Wi-Fi 6 gateways to support accelerating fiber speeds on customer home networks.

AT&T noted it has achieved 10-Gig speeds over fiber in the lab, but has not announced when it might offer such speeds to customers.

By Andy Zahn; Digital Trends ~ Jan 19, 2022

Anyone using AT&T’s 5G network in parts of seven U.S. cities can expect a welcome boost in their mobile internet speed this year as the carrier begins the rollout of 5G C-band coverage today despite ongoing issues with airlines. Markets where the new coverage will be available include Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami.

By moving into the C-band, AT&T is able to expand the availability of truly high speed 5G that has previously only been accessible on the millimeter wavelength in very limited portions of major cities. AT&T intends to make what they’re calling 5G+ accessible to 200 million people by the end of 2023.

Currently, only a limited range of devices are compatible with the service, so you’ll need an iPhone 13, a Samsung Galaxy A13 5G or S21 series, or one of Google’s latest Pixel 6 phones in order to use higher speed 5G service. While that leaves out a lot of older devices, as well as phones from other manufacturers, Apple, Samsung, and Google, are certainly the most popular and widely used. If you’ve been considering an upgrade, and live within the footprint of C-band 5G coverage, picking up a new phone just got a lot more tempting.

While it’s great to see wider availability of faster mobile internet service, unless you live in a major city, it still seems like a far-off dream. I myself live in a rural area where consistent 4G service is still a scarce commodity. C-band will gradually reduce the digital divide, but it’s questionable whether people such as myself will ever see a benefit from its implementation.

By Emily Bary; MarketWatch ~  Jan 14, 2022

Verizon absent from FCC’s list of winning bidders

AT&T Inc. emerged as the biggest spender in a major auction for 5G wireless spectrum that brought in more than $22.5 billion in total proceeds, the Federal Communications Commission announced Friday.

AT&T T, +1.42% will spend $9.1 billion on the 3.45 GHz spectrum it won at the latest auction, while Weminuche LLC was the next largest bidder, with $7.3 billion in commitments. Companies sometimes bid at spectrum auctions under alternate names, and Weminuche is a proxy for Dish Corp. DISH, -0.30%, according to analysts.

T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, -1.45% will pay $2.9 billion for spectrum it amassed at the auction, and Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, -0.45% doesn’t appear on the FCC’s list of winning bidders.

As U.S. wireless carriers look to build out their 5G networks, they’ve partly looked to acquire mid-band spectrum through auctions held by the FCC. This latest auction for 3.45 GHz spectrum was smaller than a record auction for C-Band spectrum that brought in more than $81 billion roughly a year ago.

From Bill Zettler; Seeking Alpha ~ Jan 12, 2022

Jan. 12, 2022 2:20 PM ETAT&T Inc. (T)TMUS, VZ19 Comments14 Likes

Summary

• In December AT&T was at its lowest price since 2003.
• High volume share sales in the last few months show that low price may have been the result of the tax selling season.
• AT&T’s performance is well behind fellow oligopolists Verizon and T-Mobile and should revert to at least the mean by the end of 2022.
• Looking for a helping hand in the market? Members of Turnaround Stock Advisory get exclusive ideas and guidance to navigate any climate. Learn More »

AT&T (NYSE:T) is a very controversial stock. Many articles are written about T on Seeking Alpha (more than 20 in the last month) as analysts struggle with the ‘New’ T coming sometime next year.

Why is it considered new though? I see it as the ‘old’ T plus a new tranche of excitement – Discovery (NASDAQ:DISCA) with uber media czar John Malone in charge.

I explained why I think T will thrive under the old rules in this article “Does AT&T Want To Be Like Verizon When It Grows Up? Yes It Does And That’s Good News”.

And then I explained why I think spinning off Time Warner into Discovery will be a big benefit to current T holders in this article “The Market Hates The AT&T/Discovery Deal, But Is That The Correct Analysis? Nope, Big Capital Gains Coming By 2025″.

The Time Warner/Discovery deal should close sometime in mid-2022 bring potential big gains by the end of 2022 as the market realizes the value of the two separate entities.

In this article, I will give you 3 reasons to buy T now.

By Vikkie Heron; Fosters Leader ~ Jan 10, 2022

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) saw a downside of -0.27% to $26.22 after subtracting -$0.07 on Monday. The 5-day average trading volume is 62,212,055 shares of the company’s common stock. It has gained $26.82 in the past week and touched a new high 2 times within the past 5 days. An average of 63,109,051 shares of the company has been traded in the last 20 days, and the 50-day average volume stands at 55,495,473.

T’s 1-month performance is 13.47% or $3.41 on its low of $22.02 reached on 12/15/21. The company’s shares have touched a 52-week low of $22.02 and high of $33.88, with the stock’s rally to the 52-week high happening on 01/05/22. YTD, T has achieved 6.87% or $1.65 and has reached a new high 3 times. However, the current price is down -22.61%% from the 52-week high price.

Valuation Metrics

T stock has a beta of 0.66. Moving on to other valuation ratios, the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 1.07 while the price-to-book (PB) in the most recent quarter is 1.15, with the price to cash flow ratio at 17.53.

AT&T Inc.’s quick ratio for the period ended September 29 was 0.70, with the current ratio over the same period at 0.70. As well, the company’s long term debt to equity for the quarter ending September 29 was 0.95, while the total debt to equity was 1.10. In terms of profitability, the gross margin trailing 12 months is 52.20%. The trailing 12-month EBITDA margin is 31.57% while for the period ending September 29, AT&T Inc.’s operating margin was 4.20%. The firm’s gross profit as reported stood at $6.41 billion against revenue of $171.76 billion.

The telecom giant might find itself free a lot sooner than it previously thought.

By Rich Duprey; The Motley Fool ~ Jan 06, 2022

Key Points

• The spinoff of AT&T’s media assets has weighed on the telecom’s stock.
• Ma Bell’s cutting its dividend in half as a result of the deal did not sit well with income investors.
• A smaller, more narrowly focused stock is much better for investors — which the market may be beginning to realize.

What happened

Despite AT&T’s (NYSE:T) merger with TimeWarner in 2018 being blamed for holding the telecom giant back over the years, the market hasn’t exactly rewarded Ma Bell’s decision to shed its WarnerMedia division and merge it with Discovery (NASDAQ:DISCA)(NASDAQ:DISCK).

By Jeff Baumgartner; Light Reading ~  Jan 05, 2022

AT&T will continue to take a targeted approach with fixed wireless access (FWA) for home and business broadband, viewing it as a clear complement to its fiber-fueled wireline networks.

But, more broadly, AT&T will push ahead with a “unified connectivity” strategy that relies on both wireline and wireless networks, John Stankey, AT&T’s CEO, said Wednesday at the Citi AppsEconomy Conference.

“Customers don’t necessarily love the notion of having to make a decision to buy one form of connectivity from one company and another form of connectivity from another,” Stankey said. “I expect we’re going to see more consolidated offers where people are selling a bundle of connectivity, and it doesn’t matter where you are or where you need to use it.”

Unlike rivals such as Verizon and, in particular, T-Mobile, Stankey is not completely sold that FWA will hold up in situations where customers require high levels of bandwidth, particularly as on-demand, unicast video streaming becomes the norm.