AT&T uses Frontier's fiber for enterprise sales and 5G

AT&T* will work with Frontier Communications to provide fiber optic connections to large enterprise customers outside of AT&T's current business scope. The two companies have signed a multi-year strategic agreement that will also support the deployment of AT&T's 5G mobile network.

Dallas-AT&T* will work with Frontier Communications to provide fiber optic connections to large enterprise customers outside of AT&T's current business scope. The two companies have signed a multi-year strategic agreement that will also support the deployment of AT&T's 5G mobile network.

 

Why is this important? As the demand for edge computing and 5G networks grows, so does the demand for flexible optical fiber paths in the interconnected society. Enterprises need more bandwidth to keep data moving fast. By cooperating with Frontier, AT&T will be able to provide high-speed, low-latency, and highly secure connections for large enterprise customers in markets where there is no fiber-optic network or where fiber-optic networks are currently planned.

What do AT&T and Frontier offer? AT&T is building additional fiber within its wired coverage area, and plans to cover approximately 2.5 million new customer locations by the end of 2021, and 30 million locations by the end of 2025. AT&T’s commercial fiber optic network enables high-speed connections to more than 2.5 million US commercial customer locations as of September 30, 2021. Nationwide, more than 9 million commercial customer locations are located within 1,000 feet of AT&T fiber. This year, Frontier announced a new strategy to build Gigabit America. An aggressive fiber expansion plan to exceed 10 million locations by the end of 2025 is at the core of this strategy. The company expects to provide fiber to 600,000 new sites by 2021, and approximately 4 million fiber sites will pass through by the end of this year. The agreement will allow AT&T to use Frontier's complementary fiber optic network to quickly reach more locations. Together, the two companies will provide high-speed connections to large corporate customers in Frontier's 25 states.

Who can use this? AT&T will be able to use Frontier's fiber optic network to help cover corporate customers in Frontier's service area, covering 25 states. AT&T will also use Frontier's network to strengthen the nation's best 5G network deployment and become the best wireless network in the United States for the fourth consecutive year. In addition, AT&T will use Frontier's Ethernet network to strengthen the connection between the cellular tower and the core network.

 

What are people talking about?

Scott Mair, President of AT&T Network Engineering and Operations, said: "Frontier is building its own fiber optic network, and we will be able to work together to provide large commercial customers with the high-speed, low-latency data connections needed for growth and prosperity." "As the demand for broadband connections grows, we will be able to plug and play in Frontier's network to support businesses and help develop our consumer-facing 5G mobile network."

"We are combining two complementary networks to benefit commercial customers who need fiber optic connections," said Mike Shippey, Frontier's executive vice president of commercial and wholesale. "As part of this transaction, we will use the ever-expanding fiber optic network to provide AT&T high-speed connections to large corporate customers and expand its 5G mobile network in our market."