AT&T Re-org Likely to Be Part of Eventual Shift to FTTH Emphasis

Implications: 1.      There could easily be another reason for AT&T “putting wireless chief Ralph de la Vega in charge of all consumer offerings...[than] to better coordinate marketing of landline and mobile services...” 2.      It has been long known that AT&T’s strategy of extending copper out for video is not going to be viable in a lot of cases. 3.      The top leadership at the service provider continues to want to move away from the FTTN/IPTV scheme.

Analysis:  Throughout his career, AT&T has been shifting Ralph de La Vega around to often use his talents in dealing with demanding tasks.  His responsibilities at the ex-BellSouth ranged from heading up its Latin America business to being in charge of its Broadband and Internet Services group.  At the new AT&T, he was Group president-Regional Telecommunications and Entertainment.  In fact, the bulk of his 30+-year career has been on the wireline side of the business.   Back in 1990, de La Vega was an executive involved in fiber to the home trials as well as in efforts to deploy fiber to the curb at the old Southern Bell.  His participation in testing FTTH continued at BellSouth.  de La Vega has also been acknowledged as the person turning around the DSL business for BellSouth.  

The AT&T CEO is facing a lot of internal resistance in moving in a more fiber-to-the- premises direction.  He probably views de La Vega, as an outsider of the original SBC crowd, as pushing that transition sooner.  AT&T has about a million and a half lines of FTTC in the BellSouth territory.  And that deep fiber can readily be extended to the home.