Summary
1. Several months ago, we pointed out the importance of the promotion of AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega to head up both wireline and wireless services for consumers. 2. He makes a statement in the original article that would have been considered extraordinarily radical not too long ago at the service provider. 3. Just as there appears little doubt that Verizon is going to tie FiOS and LTE together, the expected marriage of AT&T’s 4G network with its broadband landlines will make it easier for its CEO to make a major shift to FTTH.
Analysis
Ralph de a Vega says the following in the original piece: ‘I think you’re going to see AT&T--particularly because of the TV assets that we have—become very focused on breaking through the roadblocks that are keeping customers from being able to interact with their TVs in significantly different ways than they do today. We’re just in the beginning stages, but I would suggest the TV is the next big thing to go wireless.” With video services being targeted for AT&T’s LTE network, its “TV assets” will need to be significantly based on fiber.
AT&T sees its major competitor, Verizon, looking to have a total FiOS offering no matter the location of the customer. AT&T needs to follow suit in the future. So, that means going beyond the technical limitations of fiber to the node.
It should be noted that the video people have joined forces with the data team and are driving LTE at Verizon. Much of the data could still be transported on EV-DO and the future upgrades but both sides realize the importance of video in both scenarios.
