AT&T outlines RAN, core network upgradesAT&T outlines RAN, core network upgrades

AT&T said it plans to expand its midband 5G network to millions of new customers while also simplifying its core network operations.

For example, AT&T said it would expand its midband 5G radio access network (RAN) to 270 million people by the end of this year, and to more than 300 million people by the end of 2026. The company also intends to collapse multiple mobility core networks into a single, standalone cloud-native core running in Microsoft's Azure Operator Nexus platform. 

"Historically ... we had separate mobility cores for lots of different products and services. Internet of things, enterprise customers, voice, data, 4G, et cetera," explained AT&T CTO Jeremy Legg. "We're in the process of now actually collapsing the majority of those cores onto a single, standalone core that is a cloud-native core. This is built for the purpose of being distributed around the edges of the country, and it's also purpose built so that you can do the same kinds of software development that we're doing in our wireline network on top of our wireless network."

AT&T said its efforts would allow the company to transmit substantially more data over its network at a lower cost. 

Specifically, Legg said the operator's shift to software-defined networking in its core network backbone will lead to a 70% reduction in the cost to deliver each terabyte of customer data. And on AT&T's wireless network, he said the company is going to reduce the cost of delivering each gigabyte by 50% via a shift to cloud computing resources like those from Microsoft.

But Legg did not dive into the details by providing a specific timeline for those reductions or how exactly the operator might achieve them.

Eyeing growth

AT&T outlined its efforts during a three-hour analyst event Tuesday, during which the company said it plans to reach 50 million-plus total locations with fiber by the end of 2029. The operator spent much of the event touting the benefits it sees in markets where it can sell customers both fiber and wireless.

"There is more opportunity ahead of us for growth," AT&T CEO John Stankey said during the event.

Stankey also said that AT&T continues to see growth in the amount of data over its network. "That trend is probably not going to shift," he said, pointing to the rise of online gaming, the shift from HD to 4K video, and services like virtual reality.

Stankey's comments are interesting in light of new data points showing a slowdown in the rate of growth in data traffic on global networks. For example, OpenVault recently reported that monthly average broadband data consumption in the third quarter inched up 7.2%, the lowest rate of growth seen since the company began reporting these trends in 2012. And in Ericsson's newest traffic report, Fredrik Jejdling, EVP and Head of Business Area Networks, said: "We see continued mobile network traffic growth but at a slower rate."

Wireless network upgrades

AT&T offered some updates on its efforts to update its wireless network. Much of that work stems from the operator's $14 billion agreement in 2023 with Ericsson.

Jeff McElfresh, the AT&T executive now in charge of 5G buildout, said Ericsson's upgrade work won't be finished until the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. As a result, AT&T's wireless capital expenses will peak in 2025 and then will begin to decline starting in 2026.

AT&T's work with Ericsson and others will help to open up a consistent set of APIs into the operator's network, according to McElfresh. That effort dovetails with a wider push within the global wireless industry around the GSMA's Open Gateway program. Such network APIs promise to allow enterprise developers access to various wireless networking services.

Focusing on the core

Similarly, AT&T officials for years have discussed the operator's efforts to update its fiber and core network operations. For example, AT&T inked a core network deal with Microsoft in 2021. And AT&T has been working with Broadcom, DriveNets and UfiSpace to disaggregate its core routing operations since 2020.

During his portion of AT&T's analyst event, CTO Legg said the operator is working to collapse its fiber, wireless and core networking technology stack across roughly 4,600 central office locations all over the country.

He also said AT&T is rolling out a new, more effective billing system that will be able to handle both fiber and wireless customers. The platform is being used for AT&T's fixed wireless service now, according to Legg, and other services will be added to it at a later date.

Finally, Legg said AT&T is investing in AI technologies, noting that the company wants to be the best "practitioner" of AI. For example, he said AT&T is using AI to more effectively route its fiber installation technicians.

AT&T is considering hosting AI computing functions inside its central offices, like Verizon and others, Legg said. But the effort is hamstrung by the power requirements of the AI computing functions, he added.