AT&T Strikes $1 Billion Deal with Corning

(Reuters) – AT&T (NYSE:T) announced on Monday that it has signed a $1 billion multi-year agreement with Corning (NYSE:GLW) to purchase fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions. This move aims to help the U.S. telecom giant expand its high-speed internet services.

Why It's Important

As the U.S. wireless market experiences a slowdown, telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) are focusing more on their high-speed internet operations, overshadowed by broadband giants like Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA). There is increasing demand for AT&T's bundled plans, which allow customers to combine high-speed fiber data with wireless phone services at discounted rates.

The company anticipates that the deal with Corning will support network expansion and improve performance while reducing deployment costs. In the third quarter, AT&T reported 28.3 million fiber passings—locations that a fiber network can reach. The company is on track to exceed 30 million fiber passings by the end of 2025.

Context

In the third quarter, AT&T's fiber business gained 226,000 new customers, falling short of its target of 257,860 additions, as noted by Visible Alpha. This shortfall was mainly due to a work stoppage that began in August in the southeastern region, which affected fiber installations.