Even with high inflation and stress in the economy, AT&T is seeing high demand for the products and services it offers in broadband connectivity via wireless and fiber, Jeff McElfresh, COO at AT&T told John Hodulik, UBS Analyst, at the UBS Global TMT Investment Conference this week. The carrier’s device promotions have led to record low churn and strong volume and activity, according to McElfresh. The key to its success, however, has been the ability to attract “high-quality growth, add volume,” he noted.
“For Black Friday, we were not the most aggressive [in pricing]. Others were quite more aggressive. We’re right where we need to be for where we guided the company to be in 2022. So, we feel good about that,” McElfresh said.
There is room for growth, however. AT&T is the wireline share leader in Enterprise, McElfresh noted, but it is not the wireless share leader in Enterprise, especially in the mid-market segment down to small business. For the last three years, AT&T has been investing in its execution in the local markets for wireless subscribers in the Enterprise segment.
“This [market] is harder to get after. It’s a ground game,” he said. “You’ve got a subscriber base that’s not large and complex, and they tend to be a little bit more akin to a prosumer or a consumer-type product offering. We are just underway right now with an effort to improve our performance in that regard. So there’s still growth that’s available in our Enterprise segment.”
AT&T has seen success with its FirstNet program, which has been adding more agencies on a weekly basis, according to McElfresh. Work with public safety has been a long-term venture.
“It’s been a long-term 25-year investment strategy in a public-private partnership between the FirstNet Authority and AT&T, and that is continuing to perform,” he said. “The growth that we see in that segment is attractive growth. And in some cases, it’s actually expanding the market.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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