AT&T Passes 29.5M Fiber Locations in Q1

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2025 – AT&T is on the verge of a major fiber milestone. The company said Wednesday it had passed 29.5 million locations with fiber as of the first quarter and expects to surpass 30 million by midyear, months ahead of its original target.

AT&T added 261,000 fiber subscribers during the quarter, marking its 21st consecutive quarter with 200,000 or more fiber net adds, and bringing its total to 9.6 million fiber customers.

Consumer fiber broadband revenue also hit $2.1 billion, up 19% year-over-year, as more customers upgraded to faster service tiers.

Executives noted that more than 40% of AT&T Fiber households now also subscribe to AT&T wireless, part of a deliberate strategy to drive “converged” customer relationships.

“Where we have fiber, we win,” said CEO John Stankey. “This dynamic continues to drive growth, shown by our increasing rate of convergence, customer penetration and significant wireless share gains within our fiber footprint.”

In addition to fiber, AT&T reported 324,000 net postpaid phone adds, surpassing analyst expectations of 258,300. Churn remained low at 0.83%, reflecting subscriber stability.

The day prior, Verizon reported a loss of 289,000 postpaid phone lines in Q1, its worst result on record, and added just 45,000 fiber customers in the quarter, bringing its total to around 7.5 million.

AT&T continues to lead the Fiber-to-the-Home market, and has reportedly been in talks to acquire Lumen Technologies’ consumer fiber business in a deal valued at more than $5.5 billion, according to Bloomberg and Reuters. 

Asked about the Lumen deal, Stankey declined to comment on “rumors and speculation” but reiterated that he’s “always open” to moves that accelerate infrastructure expansion and shareholder value. “I have plenty of opportunity to make more infrastructure investments for the business,” he said.

Lumen has not publicly reported its exact number of fiber-only customers; the company’s consumer fiber footprint spans about 400 wire centers, with an estimated fiber base of around 1 million subscribers.

AT&T reaffirmed its $22 billion capital investment plan for 2025, focused on expanding its fiber and 5G wireless infrastructure. It also accelerated cost-saving efforts in the first quarter, including reductions in contractor and support costs, early rollout of IT and call center automation efforts, and faster copper network retirements.

Stankey credited recent Federal Communications Commission decisions under Chairman Brendan Carr with accelerating the process of phasing out many of its copper lines. He said about 25% of AT&T’s wire centers now have regulatory clearance for full transition to “sunset” the legacy infrastructure.

“We have more applications now pending,” Stankey said, “and we're actively working with the FCC about how to do that more effectively.”

The company also said it will begin executing on a $10 billion share repurchase program this quarter, with at least $3 billion in buybacks expected by year-end, with the remainder occurring in 2026.

AT&T reported net income of $4.7 billion, up 25% from the prior year, and $3.1 billion in free cash flow (excluding DirecTV), up from $2.8 billion. Total revenue grew 2%, while Mobility service revenue – specifically from AT&T’s wireless services – rose 4.1% to $16.7 billion.