AT&T: Capex Freeze? What Capex Freeze?

AT&T has spent big on capex so far this year as it draws towards the end of its 4G LTE deployment in the US.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) CFO John Stephens said Wednesday evening on the operator's second-quarter earnings call that Ma Bell had $6 billion in capital expenses in the second quarter of 2014. Despite this, the operator still says that it will spend $21 billion in capex for 2014.

"It's going to be hard work," Stephens said of the $21 billion target. AT&T, however, has been front-loading a lot of its capital spending in the early part of the year.

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AT&T is now very close to completing its 4G LTE buildout in the US, which will cover 300 million potential customers. The total potential customers covered now stands at 290 million, and the operator expects to be done this summer.

Stephens, however, essentially said on the call that rumors of an AT&T capex "freeze" have been greatly exaggerated. (See AT&T Investing in LTE Video Despite Capex 'Freeze'?.)

Major rival Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is guiding $16.5 million to $17 million in capital expenditure for 2014. (See Verizon Continues 4G LTE Capacity Spend in Q2 .)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading