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

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DALLAS – AT&T* will partner with Frontier Communications to provide fiber connectivity to large enterprise customers outside of AT&T’s current service areas. 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 demand for edge computing and 5G networks grows, so does the need for resilient fiber paths in a connected society. Enterprises need more bandwidth to keep data moving quickly. By partnering with Frontier, AT&T will be able to provide high-speed, low-latency and highly secure connections to large enterprise customers in markets where fiber networks are not available or are currently planned.

What do AT&T and Frontier offer? AT&T is building additional fiber throughout its wireline footprint and plans to cover approximately 2.5 million additional customer locations by the end of 2021 and 30 million locations by the end of 2025. AT&T's business fiber network enables high-speed connectivity to more than 2.5 million U.S. business customer locations as of September 30, 2021. Nationwide, more than 9 million business customer locations are within 1,000 feet of AT&T fiber. This year, Frontier announced a new strategy to build a Gigabit America. An aggressive fiber expansion plan to reach more than 10 million locations by the end of 2025 is at the heart of that strategy. The company expects to deliver fiber to 600,000 new sites by 2021 and to have approximately 4 million fiber sites by the end of the year. The agreement will enable AT&T to quickly reach more locations using Frontier's complementary fiber network. Together, the two companies will provide high-speed connectivity to large enterprise customers across Frontier's 25-state region.

Who can use this? AT&T will be able to use Frontier's fiber network to help cover business customers in Frontier's service area, which covers 25 states. AT&T will also use Frontier's network to strengthen the national deployment of the nation's best 5G network, which has been ranked as 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 cell towers and the core network.

What are people saying?

"As Frontier builds out its own fiber network, we'll be able to work together to provide our large business customers with the high-speed, low-latency data connections they need to grow and thrive," said Scott Mair, president of AT&T Network Engineering and Operations. "As demand for broadband connectivity grows, we'll be able to plug and play across Frontier's network to support businesses and help grow our 5G mobile network for consumers."

“We are bringing together two complementary networks to benefit business customers who need fiber connectivity,” said Mike Shippey, executive vice president of commercial and wholesale at Frontier. “As part of this transaction, we will leverage our expanding fiber network to provide AT&T high-speed connectivity to large business customers and expand its 5G mobile network in our markets.”