I don't understand AT&Ts strategy here. I assume the vast majority of AT&Ts network is overhead, and it is not expensive in the scheme of things to run PON fibr

I don't understand AT&Ts strategy here. I assume the vast majority of AT&Ts network is overhead, and it is not expensive in the scheme of things to run PON fibre on the poles. They are effectively giving away ~50% of their footprint to competitors, forever to avoid a one time capex cost. Obviously there is going to be a portion of their network which is completely uneconomic to serve (requiring huge fibre runs for a handful of customers). But I do not think that is 50% of their userbase. Just checking a handful of 10-20k pop towns in some states they 'cover' and no FTTH is available.