AT&T has seen significant shifts in demand due to the global pandemic, and it is looking to build a converged, virtualized fiber-based network that serves multiple customer segments while overlaying millimeter-wave 5G in locations that lend themselves to specific experiences built around 5G.
Igal Elbaz, AT&T’s senior VP of wireless technology, speaking at Oppenheimer’s first 5G Summit, said that backbone traffic has gone up 20% and the carrier has seen a 90% spike in the growth of Wi-Fi calling services, with overall data growth during the pandemic on par with what the carrier would normally expect to see in a 12-18 month period.
