AT&T Stock

AT&T Inc. (AT&T) is a leading provider of telecommunications and technology services globally. The services and products that the company offers vary by market and utilize various technology platforms in a range of geographies.

Segments

The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America.

Communications

The Communications segment provides wireless and wireline telecom and broadband services to consumers located in the U.S. and businesses globally. The company’s business strategies reflect integrated product offerings that cut across product lines and utilize shared assets. This segment contains the following business units:

Mobility provides nationwide wireless service and equipment.

Business Wireline provides advanced ethernet-based fiber services, IP Voice and managed professional services, as well as traditional voice and data services and related equipment to business customers.

Consumer Wireline provides broadband services, including fiber connections that provide multi-gig services to residential customers in select locations and the company’s fixed wireless access product that provides home internet services delivered over its 5G wireless network where available. Consumer Wireline also provides legacy telephony voice communication services.

Latin America

The Latin America segment provides wireless services and equipment in Mexico.

Areas of Focus

The company is a leader in providing connectivity services through its market focus areas of 5G and fiber. Fiber underpins the connectivity the company delivers, both wired and wireless. Building on that fiber foundation is its solid spectrum portfolio, strengthened through Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction acquisitions and 5G deployment. The company’s fixed wireline and mobile approach will differentiate its services and provide it with additional convergence growth opportunities in the future as bandwidth demands continue to grow. The company will continue to demonstrate its commitment to ensure management attention is sharply focused on growth areas and operational efficiencies.

The company’s integrated telecommunications network utilizes different technological platforms to provide instant connectivity at the higher speeds made possible by its fiber network expansion and wireless network enhancements. Streaming, augmented reality, smart technologies and user generated content are expected to continue to drive greater demand for broadband and capitalize on its fiber and 5G deployments. During 2024, the company plans to continue to develop and provide high-value, integrated mobile and broadband solutions.

In December 2023, the company announced plans to collaborate with Ericsson to lead the U.S. in commercial scale open radio access network (Open RAN) deployment to build a more robust ecosystem of network infrastructure providers and suppliers, fostering lower network costs, improved operational efficiencies and allowing for continued investment in its fast-growing broadband network. The company plans for about 70% of its wireless network traffic to flow across open-capable platforms by late 2026, and to has fully-integrated Open RAN sites operating starting in 2024. Beginning in 2025, the company expects to scale this Open RAN environment throughout its wireless network in coordination with multiple suppliers.

Wireless Service: The company continues to experience rapid growth in data usage as consumers are demanding seamless access across their wireless and wired devices, and businesses and municipalities are connecting more and more equipment and facilities to the internet. The deployment of 5G, which allows for faster connectivity, lower latency and greater bandwidth, requires modifications of existing cell sites to add equipment supporting new frequencies, like the C-Band and the 3.45 GHz band.

To support higher mobile data usage, the company’s priority is to best utilize a wireless network that has sufficient spectrum and capacity to support these innovations on as broad a geographic basis as possible. The company participates in FCC spectrum auctions and have been redeploying spectrum previously used for more basic services to support more advanced mobile internet services.

In North America, the company’s network covers over 438 million people with 4G LTE and over 302 million with 5G technology. In the United States, the company’s network covers all major metropolitan areas and more than 334 million people with its LTE technology and more than 302 million people with its 5G technology.

Broadband Technology: In 2020, the company identified fiber as a core priority for its business and enhanced its focus to expand its fiber footprint and grow customers. As of December 31, 2023, the company had more than 8.3 million fiber consumer wireline broadband customers, adding 1.1 million during the year. The expansion builds on the company’s recent investments to convert to a software-based network, managing the migration of wireline customers to services using its fiber infrastructure to provide broadband technology. Software-based technologies align with the company’s global leadership in software defined network (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV). The company’s virtualized network supports next-generation applications like 5G and broadband-based services quickly and efficiently.

Communications segment

The company’s Communications segment provides wireless and wireline telecom and broadband services to consumers located in the U.S. and businesses globally. The company’s Communications services and products are marketed under the AT&T, AT&T Business, Cricket, AT&T PREPAID and AT&T Fiber brand names. The Communications segment provided approximately 97% of 2023 segment operating revenues and accounted for all of its 2023 total segment income. This segment contains the Mobility, Business Wireline and Consumer Wireline business units.

Mobility – The company’s Mobility business unit provides nationwide wireless services to consumers and wholesale and resale wireless subscribers located in the United States by utilizing its network to provide voice and data services, including high-speed internet over wireless devices. The company classifies its subscribers as either postpaid, prepaid, connected device or reseller. As of December 31, 2023, the company served 242 million Mobility subscribers, including 87 million postpaid (71 million phone), 19 million prepaid, 7 million reseller and 128 million connected devices. The company’s Mobility business unit revenue includes the following categories: service and equipment.

Services

The company offers a comprehensive range of high-quality nationwide wireless voice and data communications services in a variety of pricing plans to meet the communications needs of targeted customer categories. Through FirstNet services, the company also provides a nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.

Consumers continue to require increasing availability of data-centric services and a network to connect and control those devices. An increasing number of the company’s subscribers are using more advanced devices, including embedded computing systems and/or software, commonly called the Internet of Things (IoT). The company offers unlimited plans that include features allowing for the sharing of voice, text and data across multiple devices, which attracts subscribers from other providers and helps minimize subscriber churn. Customers in the company’s connected device category (e.g., users of monitoring devices and automobile systems) generally purchase those devices from third-party suppliers that buy data access supported by its network. The company continues to upgrade its network and coordinate with equipment manufacturers and application developers to further capitalize on the continued growing demand for wireless data services.

The company also offers nationwide wireless voice and data communications to certain customers who prefer to pay in advance. These services are offered under the Cricket and AT&T PREPAID brands and are typically monthly prepaid services.

Equipment

The company sells a wide variety of handsets, wireless data cards and wireless computing devices manufactured by various suppliers for use with its voice and data services. The company also sells accessories, such as carrying cases/protective covers and wireless chargers. The company sells through its own company-owned stores, agents and third-party retail stores. The company provides its customers the ability to purchase handsets on an installment basis and the opportunity to bring their own device. Subscribers that bring their own devices or retain handsets for longer periods impact upgrade activity. Like other wireless service providers, the company also provides postpaid contract subscribers promotional equipment offers to initiate, renew or upgrade service.

Business Wireline – The company’s Business Wireline business unit provides services to business customers, including multinational corporations, small and mid-sized businesses, governmental and wholesale customers. The company’s Business Wireline business unit revenue includes the following categories: service and equipment.

Services

The company offers advanced IP-based services, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPN), AT&T Dedicated Internet, and Ethernet, as well as traditional data services, cloud solutions, outsourcing and managed professional services. The company provides collaboration services that utilize its IP infrastructure and allow its customers to utilize the most advanced technology to improve their productivity.

The company continues to reconfigure its wireline network to take advantage of the latest technologies and services, and relies on its SDN and NFV to enhance business customers’ digital agility in a rapidly evolving environment. Some of the services the company has offered historically are in secular decline and, going forward, it will focus on its owned and operated connectivity services powered by 5G and fiber.

Equipment

Equipment revenues include customer premises equipment.

Consumer Wireline – The company’s Consumer Wireline business unit provides broadband services, including fiber connections, and legacy telephony voice communication services to customers in the United States by utilizing its IP-based and copper wired network. Additionally, this business unit offers AT&T Internet Air, which is a fixed wireless access product that provides home internet services delivered over the company’s 5G wireless network where available. The company’s Consumer Wireline business unit revenue includes the following categories: broadband, legacy voice and data services and other service and equipment.

Broadband Services

The company provided broadband and internet services to approximately 15 million customer locations, with 8 million fiber broadband connections at December 31, 2023. With changes in video viewing preferences and the impacts of remote work and learning trends, the company is experiencing increasing demand for high-speed broadband services. The company’s investment in expanding its industry-leading fiber network positions it to be a leader in wired connectivity. With its focus on fiber that brings efficiencies and owner economics, the company continues to evaluate opportunities where it can turn down existing copper infrastructure.

The company’s flexible platform with a broadband and wireless connection is the most efficient way to transport direct-to-consumer video and data experiences both at home and on mobile devices. Through this integrated approach, the company can optimize the use of storage in the home, as well as in the cloud, while also providing a seamless service for consumers across screens and locations.

Legacy Voice and Data Services

Revenues from the company’s traditional voice services continue to decline as customers switch to wireless or VoIP services provided by it, cable companies or other internet-based providers.

Other Services and Equipment

Other service revenues include VoIP services, customer fees and equipment.

Latin America

The company’s Latin America segment provides wireless services in Mexico. The company utilizes its regional and national wireless networks in Mexico to provide consumer and business customers with wireless data and voice communication services. The company divides its revenue into the following categories: service and equipment.

Services

The company provides postpaid and prepaid wireless services in Mexico to approximately 22 million subscribers under the AT&T and Unefon brands. Postpaid services allow for no annual service contract for subscribers who bring their own device or purchase a device on installment and service contracts for periods up to 36 months for subscribers who purchase their equipment under the traditional device subsidy model. The company also offers prepaid services to customers who prefer to pay in advance.

Equipment

The company sells a wide variety of handsets, including smartphones manufactured by various suppliers for use with its voice and data services. The company sells through its own company-owned stores, agents and third-party retail stores.

Government Regulation

Facilities-based wireless communications providers in the United States, like AT&T, must be licensed by the FCC to provide communications services at specified spectrum frequencies within defined geographic areas and must comply with FCC rules and policies governing the use of the spectrum. The FCC’s rules have a direct impact on whether the wireless industry has sufficient spectrum available to support the high-quality, innovative services the company’s customers demand.

The Communications Act of 1934 and other related laws give the FCC broad authority to regulate the U.S. operations of the company’s interstate telecommunications services. In addition, the company’s ILEC subsidiaries are subject to regulation by state governments, which have the power to regulate intrastate rates and services, including local, long-distance and network access services, provided such state regulation is consistent with federal law.

Research and Development

The company’s research and development expenses were $954 in 2023.

History

The company was founded in 1983. The company was incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware in 1983. It was formerly known as SBC Communications Inc. and changed its name to AT&T Inc. in 2005.