Image source: AT&T.
What happened?
AT&T (T +0.62%) has announced that it will be expanding its gigabit fiber network to 11 additional major metropolitan areas. The expansion is part of Ma Bell's broader goal of bringing AT&T Fiber to 67 metropolitan areas by year's end. The new markets that the company are adding include:
- Florida: Gainesville and Panama City
- Georgia: Columbus
- Kentucky: Central Kentucky
- Louisiana: Lafayette
- Mississippi: Biloxi-Gulfport and Northeast Mississippi
- North Carolina: Wilmington
- Tennessee: Southeastern Tennessee and Knoxville
- Texas: Corpus Christi
The longer-term plan is for AT&T Fiber to be available at over 12.5 million locations by mid-2019. That's compared to the current footprint of approximately 3 million locations today.
Does it matter?
The telecommunications giant first launched its gigabit fiber service in Austin, Texas, as a response to Alphabet's (GOOG 2.49%)(GOOGL 2.30%) entry into the area with Google Fiber. While the search giant's vision of high-speed internet is unavailable to the vast majority of U.S. consumers, Google Fiber has prompted progress within the wired broadband industry at a time when telecommunications companies would rather focus on wireless growth and mobile connectivity.
AT&T's total domestic broadband connections fell by 2% last quarter to 15.6 million, compared to 6% growth of domestic wireless subscribers to 131.8 million. It's not hard to see where the company's priorities lie. But wired broadband is still an important business for both AT&T and consumers, even if it's a mature sector. Anything that helps the U.S. catch up with the rest of the world in terms of internet speed and pricing is a good thing.
