AT＆Tは誤ったメディア資産を排除し、5Gビルドアウトを2倍にする

AT＆Tは、メディアおよびエンターテインメント事業から脱却し、5G展開活動を強化しています。AT&T is getting out of the media and entertainment business and vaulting its 5G deployment activity.  The company is spinning off and combining its WarnerMedia business with Discovery in a bid to completely rid itself of entertainment assets it accumulated during a three-year period starting in 2015. AT&T closed its acquisition of DirecTV for $67 billion in 2015 and finalized a deal to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion in 2018. AT&T recently spun off its declining satellite TV business and other paid TV services into a separate, standalone company that will be partially owned and controlled by private equity firm TPG. AT&T CEO John Stankey, who replaced Randall Stephenson, the architect of AT&T’s misguided pursuits in entertainment, effectively ended that strategy in less than 11 months on the job.  The company’s desire to become a juggernaut in both connectivity and entertainment was short-lived and burdened the company with a mountain of debt. The deals brought AT&T’s total debt to a record high of $166 billion in 2018, a liability that hindered investments in its wireless, fiber, and entertainment business units. “AT&T’s balance sheet allowed neither the aggressive investment required for HBO Max nor the 5G wireless push (nor, for that matter, for the consumer fiber business). Ultimately, they had no choice. The die was cast even before the ink was dry on their initial acquisition,” analysts at MoffettNathanson wrote in a research note. AT&T entered the 5G era as the third-place player in the U.S. wireless industry. It won’t catch up to market leader T-Mobile US any time soon, but a dramatic increase in mid-band 5G deployment activity could push its 5G footprint ahead of Verizon by the end of 2023. “AT&T will have the flexibility to invest and address the growing long-term demand for connectivity and be the leading, best capitalized broadband connectivity provider in the country through 5G and fiber,” Stankey said on a call with financial analysts about the Discovery deal.  “We plan to continue the momentum in our mobility business by stepping up our investment in our wireless network. We expect to effectively deploy the assets we acquired during the recent C-band auction, reaching 200 million PoPs (points of presence) with that spectrum by the end of 2023,” Stankey said. AT&T as recently as March said it would reach 100 million PoPs with mid-band 5G spectrum before 2024. T-Mobile plans to cover 200 million PoPs with mid-band 5G by the end of this year, and more than 250 million PoPs by the end of 2022. Verizon’s current plan calls for 175 million PoPs to be covered with mid-band 5G spectrum in 2023.  “AT&T will have the flexibility to invest and address the growing long-term demand for connectivity and be the leading, best capitalized broadband connectivity provider in the country through 5G and fiber,” Stankey said. “We intend to double down on our fiber expansion. We expect to double our current fiber footprint by the end of 2025, reaching 30 million customer locations.” AT&T will, per the terms of the transaction that is expected to close in mid 2022, receive $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia’s retention of some debt. AT&T will still carry significant debt after the deal and much of its outlook will depend on its ability to grow its wireless business, a lingering and doubtful prospect, according to MoffettNathanson analysts. “Stankey is making the correct moves to refocus AT&T,” Tammy Parker, senior analyst at GlobalData, wrote in a research note. “He has spent the past year wisely unraveling deals that were previously made under the misbegotten vision of turning AT&T into an entertainment company. The costly distractions caused by venturing onto that path constrained AT&T’s ability to invest in its core telecommunications business, at a time when it needs to be building up its 5G and fiber broadband services to remain competitive.” Stankey is also embracing a refined strategy for AT&T that brings the company back to its roots. “Connectivity is intrinsic to everything we do. We’re leading the way to 5G and fiber to support that,” he said.  “This transaction gives us the flexibility to execute a steady and disciplined approach in that pursuit. You’ll see a company very familiar to you, but now tightly focused and better positioned to capitalize on the growing long-term demand for connectivity. You’ll also see a company with the financial resources and flexibility to be a leader in broadband connectivity across all market segments,” Stankey said.