YOU ARE AT:CarriersReport: AT&T may invest in LTE for its rural customers

Report: AT&T may invest in LTE for its rural customers

Lower costs for broadband technology and a more favorable regulatory climate could convince AT&T to hold onto its rural lines, according to a new research note from Fitch Ratings. The credit rating agency expects AT&T to announce its plans for its rural lines next month, and says that if AT&T does sell, potential buyers could include CenturyLink, Frontier and Windstream.

Last month AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told investors that the company is thinking about holding on to its rural assets. Stephenson also said the company is looking at replacing fixed rural lines with an LTE broadband solution. Until now, larger carriers have focused their LTE buildouts on the higher-margin urban markets, while some regional carriers have started to bring next generation services to rural areas. But if AT&T decides to invest in its rural assets, customers served there might end up with better service than they would if a regional carrier buys AT&T’s access line business.

LTE in rural areas often reiles on fixed wireless solutions. Fixed wireless services typically use a directional radio antenna on each end of the signal. Recently Ericsson announced a fixed wireless LTE solution for rural Australia, and here in the U.S. Verizon Wireless’s HomeFusion is a fixed residential LTE service.

Verizon has also had success with its LTE in Rural America program, which leases spectrum to smaller carriers so that they can launch LTE service. In addition to using Verizon’s spectrum, regional carriers can leverage some of the larger carrier’s human resources, including RF engineers and packet core engineers.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Martha DeGrasse
Martha DeGrassehttp://www.nbreports.com
Martha DeGrasse is the publisher of Network Builder Reports (nbreports.com). At RCR, Martha authored more than 20 in-depth feature reports and more than 2,400 news articles. She also created the Mobile Minute and the 5 Things to Know Today series. Prior to joining RCR Wireless News, Martha produced business and technology news for CNN and Dow Jones in New York and managed the online editorial group at Hoover’s Online before taking a number of years off to be at home when her children were young. Martha is the board president of Austin's Trinity Center and is a member of the Women's Wireless Leadership Forum.