Why is AT&T pushing fiber?
AT&T has been instrumental in actively growing its fiber-optic internet service known as AT&T Fiber in the last several years. This is an ultra-fast broadband service that provides an internet connection speed of up to 1Gbps over fiber-optic cables straight to the home. However, what has prompted this intense focus on fiber by AT&T in the recent past? As to the key reasons, there are several of them.
Increased Bandwidth Demands
Among the most crucial factors making AT&T embrace fiber connectivity is the increasing bandwidth required by the customers. This is because, with more connected devices in homes today, cloud services, streaming media, and the fact that file sizes are growing daily, copper DSL connections are inadequate. These increasing demands for connection speed and bandwidth can be met by ultra-fast fiber-optic internet. What’s more, AT&T Fiber provides customers with a connection for the future.
Competition from Cable
AT&T also plans on improving its market stand against cable internet providers with its fiber service. Current main cable providers such as Xfinity by Comcast and Spectrum by Charter boast gigabit cable internet speeds across most regions. Fiber enables the company to offer comparable or even higher speeds at similar or even cheaper prices to be able to directly compete with customers. This is also a way of being able to compete with cable because they also offer other services along with the fiber internet.
Next-Generation Services
Moreover, besides the internet speed, AT&T is focusing on fiber to support the smart home and video streaming services. AT&T Fiber offers its customers additional features for smart home, cloud DVR storage management, and home WiFi service management through an application. These value-added services assist in increasing the uptake of fiber packages by higher-value customers.
Future Network Infrastructure
Today, speed and competition are the motives, but creating a fiber network for their entire network is also the foundation for the future. Fiber will enable 5G wireless through cell site backhaul. It can support technologies such as self-driving cars, and virtual and augmented reality since they require a large amount of bandwidth. The fiber backbone will also help the company to grow its new business ventures in the media and advertising through data.
Government Incentives
Telecom giant AT&T has been able to negotiate for some favorable regulatory policies, tax credits, and other incentives from the federal, state, and local authorities to support the fiber networks. This is because the costs incurred to trench fiber lines across large territories are on the higher side and public-private partnerships assist in covering these. Conversely, AT&T is bound by strict build-out timelines in these markets.
Positive ROI
Market observers believe AT&T and other fiber operators will generate high ROI as take rates and ARPS for HSI packages popularized with SVoD and cloud DVR options rise. When consumers observe the actual gains in speed that fiber offers, first-wave adopters will persuade even more neighbors to migrate and take other services from the same company.
Improved Customer Perception
Providing customers with new technological solutions and the fastest fiber internet corresponds to AT&T’s brand concept of being a connectivity provider. Customers may have complaints about the pricing, billing structure, 5G marketing gimmicks, or any poor experience with AT&T customer care. Propelling an innovative fiber product disrupts this storyline by focusing more on technical proficiency and the network of one of the oldest communication companies in America.
The Ongoing Fiber Rollout
In 2019, AT&T had plans to bring fiber connections to 14 million customer locations in densely populated cities by mid-2025. Even though the cost increase and unpredictable supply chain issues affected the industry during the pandemic, AT&T has recently stated it has the biggest fiber internet network across the United States with over 17 million locations. The company has stated that it will keep on investing to deliver faster internet speeds across the country through fiber.
As the demand for faster connectivity rises, technology moves to the future ‘gigabit society’, increased competition from even better cable broadband, and the infrastructure for next-generation solutions, fiber is seen by AT&T as critical to its consumer and business strategy. The large fiber build generates near-term revenue while creating a high-capacity platform for AT&T’s connected services in entertainment, wireless, smart cities, and beyond. For customers demanding high speeds now and even more in the future, it links houses with a fiber-optic platform capable of delivering future technologies for several years.
Upgrade to faster, more reliable AT&T Fiber Internet today! Call us at +1 844-905-5002 and get connected with speeds that keep you ahead.