AT&T CFO John Stephens (pictured) used an investor event to dismiss recent concerns from analysts about the impact of a US C-Band spectrum (3.7GHz to 4.2GHz) sale on its balance sheet, stating it could easily handle a commitment to pay more than $23 billion for licences.
Stephens explained the operator had more than “$30 billion of ability to handle any down payments pretty easily” from its cash reserves and a $14.7 billion loan secured last month [1].
He added approximately half of the C-Band spectrum it bid for is due to become available [2] by end-2021, allowing it to “stay extremely competitive, if not lead, going forward”.
Looking ahead, he said AT&T remained committed to providing a dividend to shareholders and planned capex of $21 billion this year, compared with $19.7 billion in 2020.
He added that even after making these investments the operator expected to generate $26 billion in free cash flow, leaving “plenty of money to pay out the dividend and a very reasonable” ratio.
AT&T bid $23.4 billion to acquire 1,621 C-band licences with the sum due by 24 March.
The auction garnered bids totalling $81.2 billion [3], prompting concern from analysts over the burden on operators [4].
Last month, MoffetNathanson warned in a research note “AT&T, in particular, will face unwelcome choices about promotions and service pricing and, eventually, about dividends and diversification”.
[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/att-scores-14-7b-loan-for-spectrum
[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/fcc-offers-satellite-players-billions-for-c-band
[3] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/verizon-dominates-us-c-band-sale-with-46b-spend
[4] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/home-banner/us-c-band-auction-smashes-fcc-record
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply