AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) won the Federal Communications Commission's consent to replace old copper home phone lines with new wireless landline technology.
The approval concerns only a handful of Oklahoma residences where AT&T seeks to retire the costly technology, Bloomberg reports.
However, it could open the door to more neighborhoods.
Previously the telecom company launched a landline option that was compatible with home handsets, leveraging its wireless phone network with the internet as a backup.
AT&T targets updating its 5G network and expanding its fiber coverage to 50 million locations by 2029, including retiring its legacy copper network operations.
The company expects to produce over $50 billion in financial capacity over the next three years, mainly through organic growth for 2025-2027, backed by $22 billion in annual capital investment. AT&T eyes $40 billion in shareholder return through $20 billion in dividends and $20 billion in repurchases during the period.
Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider flagged AT&T's aggressive expansion of its fiber network across the U.S., which has the potential to drive broadband revenue growth and offset legacy declines. Schneider noted AT&T leveraging cross-selling opportunities between fiber and wireless services to boost per-customer returns.
With the ongoing implementation of its copper decommissioning plan, Schneider observed that AT&T's Wireline margins may improve even as legacy revenues decline. He projected potential cost savings of $4.5 billion from these initiatives.
AT&T stock surged over 33% year-to-date. Investors can gain exposure to the stock through iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (NASDAQ:ACWI) and Avantis U.S. Equity ETF (NYSE:AVUS).
Price Action: T stock closed up by 0.48% to $22.95 on Tuesday.
