AT&T Inc at JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Great. So Jeff, just to kick us off, the company provided multi-year guidance in December at its Analyst Day, including healthy EBITDA growth of 3%-plus, long-term cost savings opportunity of $3 billion by 2027, and a 2029 fiber passings target of 50 million total locations. Maybe you could start by taking us through your near-term priorities against these goals and why you and the management team are confident in achieving them.

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Great. And in terms of the 2025 financial and operating guidance, as you touched on, you reiterated everything. But -- despite the macro environment with a little bit less visibility, maybe more visibility after yesterday's announcements. But can you provide an overview of maybe your underlying market-level assumptions built into the outlook for the year and whether or not tariffs or the DOGE impact some of those assumptions? And have you seen any shifts perhaps maybe in behaviors between consumer or businesses?

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Right. So shifting to convergence, help us think about what it means to be a leading converged network operator. Said another way, how are your network modernization efforts differentiating you from peers? I think John implied on your 1Q call that the increased level of Internet Air net adds is related to your network monetization progress. Help explain perhaps what that means. And has your fixed wireless aspirations or strategy changed at all?

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Awesome. Sticking with that, and we touched upon this a little bit last night, but as we think about the go-to-market from a convergence perspective, what are some of the KPIs we should be watching just as we continue to evaluate the merits of this differentiated strategy? And specifically, I think on the -- at the Analyst Day, you touched on 50% fiber penetration, 50% converged penetration goals. Are you still confident in achieving those? And more recently, we have heard as well from the cable operators their converged strategy that they have somewhat. Do you agree that they have a built-in strategy? And if so, what are your options? Or how do you compete against them?

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Sticking with that, with the AT&T Guarantee brand campaign looks to be paying off nicely given recent performance, you touched upon some of the key KPIs. But where can we see that impact of the AT&T Guarantee, whether it be top-line growth, KPIs, cost efficiencies? And I guess, how is that differentiating you relative to peers in the market given the prevalence tactics like price locks that are out there?

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Great. Now shifting to the Mobility business. There's been a lot of focus on the gross add and switching environment in wireless. But AT&T's initial 2025 outlook did contemplate a more normalized market with higher churn, higher upgrade activity, as well as maybe lower gross adds or more competitive gross adds. So I guess, what are you seeing in the wireless market or in the ecosystem today given the promotional intensity? And I guess, what gives the team confidence that you can deliver on the guidance against this backdrop? Pascal and John were pretty confident on the call

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Great. Now shifting over to the Consumer Wireline and fiber program. You set a target of building an additional 15 million locations by 2029. It was about a pace of 3 million annually, which based on our conversations last night, people want to see go higher. But --

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Yeah, everybody. So I guess, where are you in terms of scaling that? Of course, you're running ahead of pace on the 30 million program.

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : So as -- so where are you in terms of scaling that? And then as you scale your fiber penetration, help us think about how you take advantage -- what are some of the opportunities from a pricing flexibility, lower cost to serve, other initiatives like copper retirement? And just as that scales, where does longer-term profitability go in that business?

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Great. And then Business Wireline, maybe segment with some latent opportunity perhaps in there. But within the first quarter, numbers came in better than expected, even if you adjust for some of the maybe one-timers you called out. Has the trend in that segment begun to improve? Is it bending in your favor? And maybe help us think about some of the areas that are going to drive growth as you -- maybe the secular challenges, the legacy stuff wanes off.

Question: Sebastiano Petti - JPMorgan - Analyst : Well, great place to leave it. Thank you, everybody, for joining us. Thank you, Jeff, and have a great day, everyone.