AT&T CFO Calls for Extension of 2017 Tax Cuts and BEAD Changes
AT&T remains hopeful that Congress will extend current tax cuts, CFO Pascal Desroches said Tuesday during a Barclays financial conference. “When the first [Donald] Trump administration passed the tax incentives in 2017, it was really successful in stimulating investment,” Desroches said: “We added jobs, both nationally and in individual states. … I am hopeful, based on all the discussions, that we will see an extension of those tax cuts."
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AT&T CEO John Stankey made similar comments last month (see 2501270047). Desroches noted that AT&T’s investments in its wireless and fiber networks total $140 billion over the last five years, including nearly $40 billion for midband spectrum.
Desroches said the BEAD program may need an overhaul. “There are requirements to have fiber as the solution,” but fiber is sometimes “cost prohibitive,” he said. Some states are handling BEAD well, while others are “still trying to figure out how best to do it.” Making the program consistent across the U.S. would “be really helpful in optimizing the dollars already earmarked for bridging the digital divide.”
Asked about the merger environment and the possibility of buying additional fiber assets, Desroches said AT&T has fewer needs to fill than its competitors. “Unlike our peers, we're not compelled to do anything." He also downplayed cable operators' wireless offerings as a competitive threat: “It's really hard to gain significant scale in wireless without having your own network.”