AT&T Business' second-quarter uptick driven by strong fiber, fixed wireless gains
Keep up to date with Lightwave’s earnings coverage.
You can check our publication’s key segments:
And
Here are other stories on AT&T:
· AT&T’s CEO says convergence is part of the structural realignment of the telecom industry
· AT&T’s Lumen fiber deal could boost its converged business services outlook
· AT&T’s CEO says its scalability enables agility in its fiber build
· AT&T sets path to reach 60M fiber locations by 2030 with Lumen fiber business acquisition
AT&T Business saw what appears to be a new revenue comeback in the second quarter.
Driven by momentum in fixed wireless access (FWA), fiber, and fixed wireless, AT&T’s Business Advanced Connectivity service revenues grew 1.8% year-over-year to $1.95 billion in the second quarter.
Pascal Desroches, CFO of AT&T who is retiring at the end of the year, told investors during the telco’s second-quarter earnings call that its business services unit has joined its consumer segment as a growth driver.
“In addition to our consumer business, our enterprise business is really performing well,” he said. “We delivered 1.8% service revenue growth, driven by strong fiber and fixed wireless growth. So, a lot of things are working well. And our goal is to optimize all of them.”
However, as has been the case for several quarters, AT&T saw its legacy business service revenue decline 16.6% to $1.04 billion in the second quarter.
“Business transitional and other revenues decreased partly due to lower demand for virtual private network and wholesale services,” AT&T said in its earnings release.
Fixed wireless factor
While AT&T is a dominant wireline provider to businesses, its FWA services continue to find favor with certain business customers.
AT&T Internet Air for Business FWA broadband service delivers 5G internet to fixed commercial locations like offices, storefronts, and studios.
FWA has been beneficial for businesses that need connectivity in locations where AT&T has not built out fiber, including remote offices, rural storefronts, or buildings where wired fiber or cable infrastructure is unavailable
The wireless service can also operate as an automatic backup network to keep point-of-sale (POS) systems and critical cloud applications running if the primary wired line fails or for a business expanding into a new area that needs immediate connectivity.
John Stankey, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, said that while FWA is not a long-term solution like fiber, it has its place.
“From the point of view of fixed wireless access, I think I've been fairly consistent about this, which is I don't consider it to be the optimal technology to serve fixed traffic over the long haul,” he said. “I have been pretty clear that's why we invest in fiber, because that is the optimal technology to use. However, it clearly has its point and use in the market at this juncture and in places.”
He added that FWA has been a good fit for the way certain businesses operate. In particular, FWA has resonated with businesses like construction companies that are inherently mobile.
“Businesses tend to be more mobile-dominated businesses with maybe a fixed location, the construction yard with a bunch of people that are out every day at sites,” Stankey said. “The yard needs some support, but it doesn't need gigs and gigs of services. Those things tend to move around, and they like the flexibility associated with it.”
Turning a corner
AT&T, after seeing multiple quarters of business service declines, has set a path towards next-service growth.
One of the assets that will continue to help pivot AT&T Business towards profitability is its on-net building fiber network.
AT&T’s fiber network reaches 38.6 million consumer and business locations.
The service provider retained the top rank on Vertical Systems Group’s 2025 U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings LEADERBOARD for the tenth consecutive year. During this time, the company has steadily expanded its installed base of fiber-lit buildings across the U.S. The service provider enhanced its on-net fiber reach by acquiring Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber business.
Desroches said that it is expecting strong growth in service revenue, which it is meeting “in Advanced Connectivity service revenues across consumer and business operations.”
“We have turned a corner and expect AT&T Business to remain a driver of growth in Advanced Connectivity service revenues going forward,” he said.
Looking forward, AT&T has forecast that Advanced Connectivity service revenue growth will be in the mid-single-digit range annually, including expected growth of 5% in 2026.
Meanwhile, it has forecast legacy service revenue (business and residential) decline of 20%+ in 2026 and be immaterial by the end of 2029.
“We reiterated our guidance for Advanced Connectivity service revenue to be 5%,” Desroches said. “That underscores our confidence that on a combined basis, we're going to be able to deliver the service revenues that we thought. We feel good about how we are pacing today.”
For related articles, visit the Business Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of fiber network deployments, subscribe to Lightwave’s Service Providers and Datacom/Data Center newsletters.
About the Author
Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategy of Lightwave across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products.
Voices of the Industry
