• After years of 5G chest-thumping, the major US operators are now looking to outdo each other in the fibre access network sector 
• Verizon’s plan to acquire fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network operator Frontier Communications has attracted a lot of attention and plaudits
• The news appears to have riled AT&T, which has announced a range of initiatives to expand its already market-leading FTTP network reach

Only days after Verizon announced its intention to acquire US fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network operator Frontier Communications in a deal valued at $20bn, AT&T has announced a number of initiatives to expand the reach of its FTTP infrastructure, including a plan to identify additional markets for GigaPower, the wholesale FTTP joint venture AT&T formed with investment firm BlackRock in late 2022, and new agreements with a quartet of other wholesale FTTP network operators. 

When announced, AT&T and BlackRock said GigaPower would build fibre access broadband network connections to 1.5 million premises outside of AT&T’s traditional wireline service areas (currently in 21 US states). 

Now AT&T says it is working with BlackRock to identify “opportunities to expand Gigapower’s fibre footprint beyond the initial 1.5 million locations announced in December 2022… this Gigapower expansion may include growth in its existing geographies as well as the addition of new geographies,” stated the US operator. 

AT&T, which has 8.8 million fibre broadband customers, claims it is currently the largest FTTP network operator in the US, passing more than 28 million premises, but clearly feels threatened by Verizon’s plans to expand its reach to 25 million premises and ramp up its FTTP customer base to 9.6 million customers with the acquisition of Frontier. 

“AT&T is America’s largest and leading fibre provider,” stated AT&T CEO John Stankey, hammering home the current leadership position. “With our organic fibre build, we’re seeing improving returns as we expand our network. In new service areas, Gigapower is ramping well, and we’re targeting additional geographies for growth with the joint venture and other commercial open-access agreements. Customers tell us they want a high-performance wireless and broadband experience from a single provider, and AT&T is best positioned to serve this growing need,” he added. 

Those other open-access agreements are with: Boldyn Networks, an existing AT&T partner; Digital Infrastructure Group, a Canadian company that is expanding its reach into the US; Prime Fiber, which is building out new FTTP infrastructure in Florida; and Ubiquity, “one of the nation’s largest commercial open-access fibre networks” that will provide access to AT&T “across its multistate footprint and bringing fibre to private access locations, including multifamily communities and private homeowners’ associations (HOAs) on a targeted basis nationally. It will also build exclusive greenfield areas for AT&T, initially in Minnesota,” according to AT&T. (For further details on these partnerships, see AT&T’s press release.) 

That quartet of partners was selected “because they provide opportunities to expand AT&T Fiber distribution to new service areas without existing fibre options. As these providers add fibre locations, AT&T will evaluate where it wants to offer AT&T Fiber” services via the wholesale partnership. 

Like Verizon, AT&T regards fibre broadband services as a good business opportunity and an important way to attract customers that will subscribe to both 5G and fibre broadband through a single contract (the convergence approach that is increasingly popular with telcos around the world). 

“These fibre agreements provide AT&T with wholesale access to these fibre broadband networks, enabling [AT&T] to offer both AT&T Fiber and 5G wireless services to more customers,” the telco noted.    

AT&T explained that it will continue to build out its own FTTP infrastructure in its existing wireline network markets “and remains on track to pass [more than] 30 million consumer and business locations with fibre by the end of 2025.” It also noted that it may extend that target by an additional 10 million and 15 million premises, though that expansion “assumes similar build parameters and a regulatory environment that remains attractive to building infrastructure.” 

It’s not just Verizon that AT&T will be concerned about in the fibre access network sector, of course: Following significant success with its 5G-enabled fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband services offering, T-Mobile US is also investing in FTTP by taking a 50% stake in a new joint venture with infrastructure investor KKR, which plans to acquire US FTTP player Metronet. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV