AT&T CEO Open to Targeted Legislation on Neutrality, Upbeat on Q3
There are some “rational places” for targeted legislation on net neutrality, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference Tuesday. Meanwhile, the company doesn’t see many opportunities overseas to extend the platform of AT&T services, largely because of already intense competition and regulatory hurdles, he said.
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AT&T is actively engaged in net neutrality discussions, Stephenson said. The FCC proposal to regulate broadband services under Title II wasn’t a viable answer and wouldn’t survive legal challenge, he said. It will be difficult to get anything done before the Congressional recess but everyone’s working on it, he said. On antitrust review, Stephenson said merger reviews are “protracted” but do get completed.
AT&T plans capital expenditures of $19 billion this year, which is at “full capacity level” for the company, Stephenson said. The industry is making capital investment at its maximum, he said. “We've built a business that’s somewhat resistant to the recession,” Stephenson said. Meanwhile, it doesn’t make sense for AT&T to acquire content providers, although it will look for ways to deliver better content to its customers, Stephenson said. The key is to distribute content across platforms, he said.
Stephenson talked down the impending loss of iPhone exclusivity and noted that some two thirds of iPhone owners already were long-term AT&T users before they signed up. As a result, many of them are unlikely to switch carriers frequently, he said. AT&T is likely to see a record integrated device quarter in Q3 in terms of sales due to the iPhone, Torch and Samsung Captivate, Stephenson said. He said the company has about a half million of Apple’s iPad tablets connected to its network. The company is also seeing improvements in its wireline business in Q3 compared to Q2, he said. The enterprise business will “drive hard” on smartphones and especially tablets, the CEO said. “We fully expect the enterprise market to take off for integrated devices.”