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Does ATT have an alternate asset? As far as I know they dont run a cable network or a significant fttp network so I dont see why they would remove any broadband

Does ATT have an alternate asset? As far as I know they dont run a cable network or a significant fttp network so I dont see why they would remove any broadband customers. Dial up and landline only customers I can see being moved to LTE. I dont see anything about the USF going away so I dont see why anyone would be left behind, USF's are normally highly profitable for the telco. For the edge cases that cant receive a mobile signal with a roof mounted antenna, I guess a subsidized satellite phone will be the solution.

rayiner 9y ago
> USF's are normally highly profitable for the telco. USF is paid for by a tax on telecom service which, in effect, redistributes money from telcos with more urban/suburban customers to telcos with more rural customers (and imposes a deadweight loss on the industry as a whole from the tax). AT&T probably falls into the bucket of telcos that lose rather than profit from the USF scheme.
sitkack 9y ago
> ATT have an alternate asset National fiber network and land.
maxerickson 9y ago
They segment their reporting, page 18 of this document shows their consumer segment: https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/financial-reports/annual-reports/2016/att-ar2016-completeannualreport.pdf https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/financial-r... They had as many people on Uverse video (which I guess is fiber) in 2014 as they had on copper phone lines in 2016.
- cavisne 9y ago
  Uverse seems to be mostly fiber to the node, ie it’s still copper into the home
  - abalashov 9y ago
    In about the same way that cable modem service is mostly fiber. It's just coax into the home (and yes, perhaps a bit up the span as well). :-)
  - joezydeco 9y ago
    AT&T has been very picky about where and when they deploy the DSLAMs to make UVerse happen. In a lot of cases, they run into headwinds with local municipalities regarding contracts they already have with Comcast, RCN, etc when it comes to providing television service (AT&T has argued to varying degrees of success that UVerse has nothing to do with TV). DSLAMs are also ugly boxes that have to sit in very visible and inconvenient places. For some reason in my neighborhood, UVerse exists up until about 3 blocks from my home and it goes no further. Nobody can explain why.

rayiner 9y ago

> USF's are normally highly profitable for the telco. USF is paid for by a tax on telecom service which, in effect, redistributes money from telcos with more urban/suburban customers to telcos with more rural customers (and imposes a deadweight loss on the industry as a whole from the tax). AT&T probably falls into the bucket of telcos that lose rather than profit from the USF scheme.

sitkack 9y ago

> ATT have an alternate asset National fiber network and land.

maxerickson 9y ago

They segment their reporting, page 18 of this document shows their consumer segment: https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/financial-reports/annual-reports/2016/att-ar2016-completeannualreport.pdf https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/financial-r... They had as many people on Uverse video (which I guess is fiber) in 2014 as they had on copper phone lines in 2016.

cavisne 9y ago
Uverse seems to be mostly fiber to the node, ie it’s still copper into the home
- abalashov 9y ago
  In about the same way that cable modem service is mostly fiber. It's just coax into the home (and yes, perhaps a bit up the span as well). :-)
- joezydeco 9y ago
  AT&T has been very picky about where and when they deploy the DSLAMs to make UVerse happen. In a lot of cases, they run into headwinds with local municipalities regarding contracts they already have with Comcast, RCN, etc when it comes to providing television service (AT&T has argued to varying degrees of success that UVerse has nothing to do with TV). DSLAMs are also ugly boxes that have to sit in very visible and inconvenient places. For some reason in my neighborhood, UVerse exists up until about 3 blocks from my home and it goes no further. Nobody can explain why.