AT&T Plans to Spend $40 Billion to Enrich Shareholders Instead of Investing in Rural America

On Saturday, AT&T received approval to discontinue copper telephone and DSL service in parts of rural Oklahoma, furthering the company’s plan to eliminate all such service across most of its footprint by 2029.

As technicians and support representatives who interact with customers every day, we understand the need to update copper lines in order to provide more dependable service with the capacity to meet the current and future needs of residents and businesses. Unfortunately, instead of replacing those lines with reliable, future-proof fiber optic cable, AT&T intends to dump customers in more than half of its territory off its landlines and leave many of them with only wireless or satellite as options.

AT&T has made its priorities clear. On the same day that the company announced plans to abandon millions of customers, it also announced that it expects to return over $40 billion to shareholders over the next three years through stock buybacks and dividends. This short-sighted approach benefits wealthy investors while leaving rural communities and workers behind.

AT&T CEO John Stankey has claimed that if President-elect Trump follows through on his promise to cut corporate taxes, AT&T will invest more in telecommunications infrastructure. We have been down this road before. AT&T made similar claims when it championed Trump’s first term corporate tax cuts. Once those cuts went into effect, AT&T reduced capital investments, slashed tens of thousands of jobs, and announced plans to spend $30 billion on stock buybacks.

We weren’t fooled then and we won’t be fooled now. Working people know who benefits from corporate tax cuts, and it’s not us. AT&T may have forgotten its historic role in providing high-quality, universal service but we have not. We will continue to fight for good union jobs and affordable, reliable, fiber telecommunications and internet service for all Americans, no matter where they live.

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