Unpacking AT&T’s Infrastructure CapEx

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

The past two years have been a roller coaster for AT&T (NYSE: T). Despite reporting an upbeat performance for both 4Q21 and full-year 2021, AT&T acknowledges that it has much more work to do. Management is focusing on its core competencies with ambitious plans to accelerate its wireless and fiber infrastructure investments to add new customers and drive new revenue streams. AT&T must invest substantial capital expenditures to maintain and expand its extensive network infrastructure. Its overall 2021 corporate capex tallied $16.5 billion across wireless, wireline, and media operations. That figure was up five percent from $15.7 billion in 2020 which saw a 20 percent downturn from the $19.6 billion spent in 2019, mainly due to the pandemic. The company provided 2022 capex guidance of $20 billion with a heavy focus on 5G and fiber builds. Continue Reading