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Tag: John Stankey

  • No More Delays: Verizon and AT&T Reject US Request to Delay 5G

    No More Delays: Verizon and AT&T Reject US Request to Delay 5G

    Verizon and AT&T’s CEOs have rejected a request from the FAA and US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to delay mid-band 5G.

    Verizon and AT&T have been at odds with the airline industry over the C-band spectrum the companies plan to use for 5G. The two companies spent over $68 billion on the spectrum at a recent FCC auction, since C-band is squarely in the mid-band range, making it ideal for 5G. 

    Unfortunately, the spectrum is very close to the frequencies used by airline altimeters, sparking concerns by the airline industry and the FAA. Secretary Buttigieg had asked the two carriers to delay rollout for no more than two weeks past their January 5 deployment date, already a month later than the two companies originally planned.

    It seems neither company is willing to comply, with Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and AT&T CEO John Stankey penning a joint letter saying they will not delay deployment any longer. According to CNBC, the two companies are willing to delay deployment around airports for another six months, but they will not delay general deployment.

    The two companies plan to follow an “exclusion zone” plan, similar to what companies in France are doing. Adjustments would be made to account for the stronger 5G signals used in the US versus France, but the goal would be to limit potential interference in the proximity of airports and helipads.

    “The laws of physics are the same in the United States and France,” the CEOs wrote. “If U.S. airlines are permitted to operate flights every day in France, then the same operating conditions should allow them to do so in the United States.”

  • AT&T Will Spin Off DirecTV

    AT&T Will Spin Off DirecTV

    After months of exploring a potential sale of DirecTV, AT&T has decided to spin off the satellite TV service.

    AT&T bought DirecTV for $48.5 billion ($67.1 billion including debt), in 2015, but the service has since lost millions of customers. The satellite industry has experienced difficulties as a whole, threatened by the widespread adoption of streaming TV services. Even so, DirecTV’s losses have far outpaced its rival, Dish Network. As a result, AT&T has been looking to get rid of DirecTV for some time, exploring various options, including an outright sale.

    It appears the company has, instead, opted to spin off its satellite service with the help of TPG Capital. The deal is worth a mere $16.25 billion, including debt. AT&T will receive $7.8 billion in cash, including $5.8 billion from the new DirecTV and $1.8 billion from TPG. AT&T will use the cash to help pay down its debt.

    “This agreement aligns with our investment and operational focus on connectivity and content, and the strategic businesses that are key to growing our customer relationships across 5G wireless, fiber and HBO Max. And it supports our deliberate capital allocation commitment to invest in growth areas, sustain the dividend at current levels, focus on debt reduction and restructure or monetize non-core assets,” said AT&T CEO John Stankey. “As the pay-TV industry continues to evolve, forming a new entity with TPG to operate the U.S. video business separately provides the flexibility and dedicated management focus needed to continue meeting the needs of a high-quality customer base and managing the business for profitability. TPG is the right partner for this transaction and creating a new entity is the right way to structure and manage the video business for optimum value creation.”

    AT&T will own 70% of the common equity of the new company, with TPG owning the remaining 30%.

    “We certainly didn’t expect this outcome when we closed the DirecTV acquisition in 2015,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said on a conference call, according to CNBC, although he expressed his belief the deal represents the best option for AT&T shareholders.

  • AT&T CEO: HBO Max At Huge Disadvantage To Big Tech

    AT&T CEO: HBO Max At Huge Disadvantage To Big Tech

    AT&T’s streaming video service HBO Max is at a huge disadvantage to tech companies in the streaming video market says AT&T CEO, John Stankey.

    “There’s no doubt that we really should be focused on equality of access from the edge providers and those that are owning operating systems or have incredibly powerful platforms that have aggregated huge amounts of the customer base,” said AT&T CEO John Stankey. “Our focus needs to be on equity of rules and engagement to ensure that anybody who wants to innovate can take these platforms that have over 50% of share in many instances and everybody can equally get out to it.”

    John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, Inc. says that the focus should be on edge providers now. He chuckles about the huge amount of debate that went into the net neutrality debate:

    I certainly hope it’s a sustainable model. I’m trying to remember when we were last a gatekeeper… it’s been a long time. If I think about what happens moving forward right now and the dynamic there’s no doubt that we really should be focused on equality of access from the edge providers and those that are owning operating systems or have incredibly powerful platforms that have aggregated huge amounts of the customer base. I chuckle and I think back about all the calories that were expended over something like net neutrality.

    When you look at this moment we’ve come through where networks have been absolutely so critical moving through this pandemic there has not been a single instance of somebody talking about my network provider blocking me or preventing me from doing what I wanted to do. In fact, the policy that’s in place has allowed for remarkably scaled broadband networks to perform incredibly well. That’s a bit different than what we’ve seen in other parts of the world.

    Where the bottlenecks are sometimes occurring are in these commercial agreements and dynamics that are happening between say an Amazon Fire distribution platform or to what’s happening in IoS and maybe a gaming player on it. Our focus probably needs to be on equity of rules and engagement to ensure that anybody who wants to innovate can take these platforms that have over 50% of share in many instances and everybody can equally get out to it. This is a debate about the Edge, not a debate about network neutrality, which we are going to have to be mindful of.

  • Senator Blumenthal Demands AT&T Back Off Ad-Based Cellphone Plans

    Senator Blumenthal Demands AT&T Back Off Ad-Based Cellphone Plans

    That didn’t take long; Senator Richard Blumenthal has demanded that AT&T rethink its plans to offer ad-subsidized phone plans.

    As we reported this morning, AT&T CEO John Stankey told Reuters in an interview that the company was looking at offering $5 to $10 off of plans in exchange for displaying ads on the user’s phone. In our report, we raised issues with what we labeled “quite possibly one of the worst, most consumer-unfriendly ideas put forth by a company in recent years.”

    It seems that Senator Blumenthal agrees, slamming the wireless carrier for its plans.

    ”I am alarmed that AT&T’s announcement threatens to create a race to the bottom, trampling over long-held consumers expectations and leaving privacy as a right exclusive to the rich,” wrote Blumenthal in a letter to Stankey.

    Senator Blumenthal also takes issue with AT&T’s plans to monitor and track users across devices, and says that customers should not have to choose between privacy and cost.

    “The prospect of AT&T monitoring consumers’ phone and internet records, matching them across devices and data broker records, and then using that private information to manipulatively target people is outright chilling.

    “AT&T should not hold privacy above consumers’ heads for additional cost. Rather than a benefit, it is clear that AT&T is seeking to legitimize more intrusion into consumers’ lives and more aggressively commoditize subscribers. AT&T’s announcement would create a “pay-for-privacy” standard in the increasingly consolidated phone market, driving prices up for those who want to opt out. You also acknowledge that an ad-supported wireless plan would cross-fertilize its AT&T data broker and ad targeting products, adding to the race to the bottom that exists in the internet ecosystem. In holding out nominal discounts in exchange for the intrusive surveillance and aggressive monetization of private information, AT&T is manipulatively pitting consumers’ welfare and privacy against constrained budgets.”

    Senator Blumenthal has requested a written response by October 18. Given the sweeping implications of AT&T’s proposed action, hopefully this quick pushback will cause them—and any other companies considering such ideas—to reconsider.

  • AT&T Exploring Ads On Your Cell Phone For a Price Discount

    AT&T Exploring Ads On Your Cell Phone For a Price Discount

    In case anyone thought they didn’t see enough ads, AT&T wants to put ads on your phone in exchange for a whopping $5 off your bill.

    Ad-supported services have become one of the most popular business models, with everything from streaming entertainment to mobile apps relying on ad revenue to provide free or discounted services. The proliferation of ad-based business models have created a slew of privacy concerns, as consumers and lawmakers are finally pushing back against being continually tracked, analyzed and profiled.

    It appears that AT&T wants to keep going down the privacy-threatening, ad-based rabbit hole, however, by introducing ad-supported telephone plans. The goal would be to use mobile phones to serve up ads, in exchange for a $5 or $10 price break.

    “I believe there’s a segment of our customer base where given a choice, they would take some load of advertising for a $5 or $10 reduction in their mobile bill,” Chief Executive John Stankey told Reuters in an exclusive interview.

    What’s more, the company plans to use “unified customer identifiers,” that would enable marketers to track users across devices.

    Does anyone else see a problem with this?

    Wireless carriers already have access to a vast amount of data on their customers. In fact, it’s safe to say there are few companies that have as much ability to track their users as wireless providers. Having those companies use that data for targeted marketing, even making it easier for marketers to track users across devices, is quite possibly one of the worst, most consumer-unfriendly ideas put forth by a company in recent years.

    What’s most interesting is that AT&T reported revenue of $41.0 billion in its second quarter results. Its operating expenses were $37.4 billion, leaving it an operating income of $3.5 billion—in a single quarter, a quarter hit hard by a global pandemic, among other things.

    Yet, in spite of making a profit of more than $1 billion per month, AT&T is not happy doing what businesses have done since the beginning of time—charge a fair price for a fair service. Instead, it wants to use its vast amount of data to turn its users into a product it can then sell to advertisers.

    This writer, for one, is thrilled to not be an AT&T customer.