AT&T is dropping its copper telephone network and copper DSL business in order to streamline its businesses with an all-IP network.
“AT&T said it will invest $14 billion in its networks over the next three years,” GigaOM writes, “with those dollars going into wireless, business services and the fiber-to-the-node U-verse product.”
“Those three product lines make up 81 percent of AT&T’s revenue and collectively are growing at 6 percent a year. AT&T expects to spend $8 billion for wireless initiatives and $6 billion for wireline initiatives.”
The company’s new investment in LTE will cover 99 percent of the U.S. and its wireline U-Verse service will grow to reach 75 percent of customer locations. The 25 percent not covered by wireline are expected to subscribe to LTE broadband, “which comes at a much higher cost and has onerous caps that DSL access and AT&T phone lines do not have,” comments GigaOM.
“This news will have huge ramifications for Americans in rural areas as well as those who still rely on their wireline copper-based telephones for burglar alarms, emergencies and fire alarm systems,” the post explains. “Competitive local exchange carriers in many regions also woke up this morning wondering how they will continue to offer their products over AT&T’s copper pipes.”
“Instead AT&T will use its fiber network and LTE to deploy broadband to smaller cities and towns. These decisions also mean the end of network upgrades to the copper network, although it’s not clear how exactly Ma Bell will back away from copper from its network, and it will have to do so with regulatory approvals.”
AT&T is dropping its copper telephone network and copper DSL business in order to streamline its businesses with an all-IP network.
No Comments Yet
You can be the first to comment!
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.