AT&T is now planning to reach more than 60,000 locations across three states with fiber via public-private partnership arrangements with municipalities, striking its latest deal with the city of Amarillo in Texas. Jeff Luong, AT&T’s president of Broadband Access and Adoption, told Fierce it’s pursuing many more similar deals both within and outside of its existing footprint.
The $24 million project in Amarillo will cover approximately 22,000 locations with XGS-PON fiber. The start of engineering work is contingent on the city’s final approval of its portion of funding for the build.
AT&T’s deal in Amarillo follows earlier agreements struck with Vanderburgh County, Indiana and Oldham County, Kentucky for two more projects set to cover 20,000 locations each. According to Luong, the work in Amarillo differs from these previous partnerships because it focuses on urban rather than rural coverage. AT&T’s project in Amarillo will also tackle affordability and adoption, he added.
“The area that the city wanted to address is actually the city core. It’s actually an area they feel is underserved,” he said. “We are expanding access, we are providing a very affordable free solution when partnered with ACP [Affordable Connectivity Program] and then we’ll be actively engaging in adoption, digital literacy and other type of activities to ensure that people have access, they can afford it and that they understand how to use the service.”
AT&T is currently pushing to double its fiber footprint from 15 million to 30 million locations by the end of 2025. As of the end of Q1, it covered around 17 million locations with fiber, a figure up 2.4 million year on year. Luong said the operator knows despite its expansive effort “there is a need for more connectivity” but noted the economics of building to certain areas can be challenging. Public-private partnerships present an opportunity to help it bridge that gap to reach more locations.
“We believe that public-private partnership is the most effective and efficient way” to bridge the digital divide, he said.
The three public-private partnership deals AT&T has announced thus far all fall within its existing coverage area. But Luong said it’s also in talks with interested communities outside of its footprint and will pursue deals in areas where it makes sense.
As the name implies, partnerships with communities include a combination investment of public funding and private dollars. So far, most communities have been using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds or their own local budgets to fuel investments in broadband deployments, Luong said. But ARPA Capital Projects Fund dollars and money from the new Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is expected to start trickling through the pipeline in the coming months.
Thus far, public-private partnerships are currently not a material contributor to AT&T’s capital expenditures, accounting for only a few tens of million of dollars spread over a two to three year timeframe compared to its annual $20+ billion in spending. But it’s possible that could change.
“This is the time to engage and we are ready to engage…we are actively talking with anybody that’s willing to talk to us,” Luong said. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is the golden age of connectivity. This type of funding, from a public perspective, is not going to happen anytime soon again in the future.”