AT&Tのネットワークアップグレードが2桁の節約を実現

CEOのRandall Stephensonは、同社の最近のクラウド取引はMicrosoftとIBMを相手にしており、「自社のネットワークとITの側面でコスト削減曲線を維持することを可能にしている」と述べた。AT&T’s network transformation efforts are bringing network operations and IT-related costs down significantly, CEO Randall Stephenson said during the company’s latest earnings call. “With all the activity in the network going on we have very consistently driven those cost levels down on an absolute basis of 8, 9, or 10% year-over-year.” AT&T’s fresh public cloud deals with Microsoft and IBM factor heavily into that objective going forward. The deal with IBM is also reciprocal in that AT&T’s Business unit will be IBM’s primary SDN provider. “What we’re doing with both IBM and Microsoft is leveraging their capabilities in large-scale cloud deployments and they’re taking over a lot of applications for AT&T, moving those to the cloud,” Stephenson said. “It’s going to allow us to continue this type of cost reduction curve on the network and IT side of the house.” AT&T’s network improvements are also riding heavily on its ongoing deployment of FirstNet, a nationwide first responder network the operator is building under a contract with the federal government. “AT&T has a good story to tell around FirstNet, which is helping lower costs and capital spending and deliver both improved network performance now and a better path to 5G later,” analysts at Moffett Nathanson wrote in a new report. “FirstNet continues to be the driver of our network performance as well as our 5G leadership,” Stephenson said. “At the end of the quarter we were about 60% complete with our FirstNet coverage,” which is about nine months ahead of schedule. The operator aims to reach 70% of its FirstNet coverage completion by year-end. As new equipment is deployed for FirstNet, AT&T is turning up unused spectrum and installing hardware that can be upgraded to 5G via software update, Stephenson explained. “We’re on track for nationwide 5G coverage by first half of 2020.” The software required to upgrade that equipment to 5G will be ready by the middle of 2020, so AT&T expects its radio access network (RAN) to be powering a nationwide 5G footprint by then, Stephenson said. In addition to its forthcoming low-band spectrum deployments, the operator is also in the process of deploying 5G services on millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, which is powering 5G services in 20 markets today. “When you put 5G into that millimeter wave band that’s when you get these radical speed lifts,” Stephenson said, adding that mmWave deployments will occur at a slower pace and initially be targeted to enterprises. AT&T CFO John Stephens said that much of the elevated capital investment on the network build side will be done soon, leaving software upgrades and less expensive requirements going forward. That decline hasn’t occurred yet though. Capital spending during the carrier’s most recent fiscal quarter was up 8.4% year-over-year to $5.5 billion, and up nearly 6.2% from the previous quarter. Stephenson was also relatively neutral on the latest reports surrounding the fate of T-Mobile US’ 15-month quest to acquire Sprint. “There’s a lot of noise out there on industry structure,” he said. “If [Dish Network Chairman] Charlie Ergen has wireless assets and distribution, or Sprint and T-Mobile happens or doesn’t happen, candidly it doesn’t change anything we’re going to do for the next three years. Our strategy is pretty well baked.” He noted there are many “ifs” and unknowns at this point, adding that any decision made by the Justice Department could still be challenged at the state level where multiple attorneys general have filed a lawsuit to block the merger. “The DoJ is probably not going to be the last say on this deal. And I’ve not seen this happen in [mergers and acquisitions] before where the state [attorneys general] have positioned themselves where they will be the last say on any deal that gets done,” Stephenson said. “It’s hard to say which way this thing goes, but at the end of the day it doesn’t change anything we’re doing.” AT&T was previously blocked by the federal government from acquiring T-Mobile US due to competition concerns. AT&T banked $3.7 billion in net income on earnings of $45 billion during the quarter, representing a 15.4% year-over-year increase in revenue and a 9.5% decline in net income. Analysts at Moffett Nathanson aren’t sounding the alarm, but the firm did highlight some concerns about the road ahead for AT&T. “Despite a business that looks, on the surface, to be almost monotonously stable — neither revenue nor EBITDA is either growing or shrinking much — AT&T’s business is in constant flux. It’s hard to imagine that this stability will last,” the firm’s analysts wrote.