Page 38 - SAMENA Trends - October-December 2024

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UScellular’s pending transaction to sell its to their long-term value,” he continued. spectrum in the future. We will continue
wireless operations to T-Mobile US, means “First, our C-band licenses are positioned to look for ways to opportunistically
that the company has approximately 30% in an attractive mid-band frequency monetize the C-band, as well as the other
of its holdings, minus mmWave, left. “After that can deliver outstanding speed and remaining spectrum.” UScellular’s majority
our proposed sales, we will be left with capacity. Second, there is a substantial shareholder, TDS, has already consented
1.86 billion MHz-Pops of low and mid- 5G ecosystem of equipment vendors and to the AT&T spectrum transaction. Like
band spectrum, as well as 17.2 billion existing infrastructure that uses C-band. the other spectrum transactions, this one
MHz-Pops of mmWave spectrum, with Finally, they have a lengthy build-out is contingent upon the successful closing
the substantial majority of retained value timeline, with first and second build-out of T-Mobile US” acquisition of UScellular’s
in the C-band spectrum,” added Therivel. dates of 2029 and 2033, respectively. wireless operations.
“The C-band licenses have a number of This provides ample time and optionality
attributes that we believe are favorable for us to either monetize or deploy the

AT&T Launches Integrated 5G/Fiber Gateway for Business Customers

AT&T announced that starting early next the wireless network and fiber broadband is Wi-Fi 6E technology, “providing faster
year, an integrated fiber and 5G gateway speeds. Customers also receive the speeds, lower latencies and more reliable
will be available nationwide to select new assurance of staying connected in the connections across a broader range of
AT&T Business Fiber customers who order event of a fiber outage, the company compatible devices,” the company said.
speeds of 1 Gbps or higher. The gateway added. If the fiber network goes out, the Unlike other products offering a cellular
is AT&T’s first converged device designed gateway automatically switches to AT&T’s failover for fiber, the integrated gateway for
for business customers, who are expected 5G network, then reverts to fiber once business customers is the first to do so in a
to benefit from seamless connectivity of service is restored. Another key feature single device, according to AT&T. AT&T has
already rolled out the product in Arkansas,
California, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada,
Oklahoma, and Texas. “The introduction
of our first-ever integrated device marks a
transformative step in defining the future
of connectivity,” said AT&T Business
Senior Vice President, Business Products
Mike Troiano, in a prepared statement.
“As technology evolves and digital
transformation accelerates, the need for
convergence is more critical than ever. We
are leading the way with the infrastructure
across fiber broadband and wireless to
keep our small, medium and large business
customers seamlessly connected. “AT&T’s
integrated gateway exemplifies our
commitment to innovation, enhancing our
connectivity portfolio to meet their current
and future business needs, empowering
them to grow, scale and thrive in an ever-
evolving landscape.”

AT&T Signs $1bn Fiber Supply Deal with Corning

AT&T has signed a multi-year deal with Corning’s products. The move also aligns said Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and CEO
glass specialist Corning to supply the with federal initiatives like the Broadband of Corning in a press release. “By extending
fibre optics and related technology to Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) our longtime relationship with AT&T, we’re
help expand its high-speed broadband program, which require the use of locally helping bring the transformational benefits
network to more communities across the sourced technology. “As data and of fiber to more people and communities.
US. Financial details of the deal were not bandwidth requirements continue to We share a fundamental belief that the
disclosed, but it is estimated to be worth in grow, Corning is committed to the work more people you connect, the more value
excess of $1 billion. As Corning’s biggest of ensuring all Americans have access to you create. And optical fiber is bringing
customer, AT&T will have priority access to reliable, high-speed fiber connections,” people together at an unprecedented

38 OCT-DEC 2024