AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo: Telecomlead

AT&T will be lowering its Capital Expenditure (Capex) for 2019 — and gross capital investment will be within the range of $23 billion. AT&T provided an update on its strategy at a meeting following the acquisition of Time Warner, now known as WarnerMedia, as well as guidance for 2019.

Considering about 40 percent of AT&T’s revenues and about 50 percent of its adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) is from the its mobility business unit, the company is expecting mobility to see both top and bottom line growth in the year ahead. “We are well positioned for success as the lines between entertainment and communications continue to blur,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “If you’re a media company, you can no longer rely exclusively on wholesale distribution models. You must develop a direct relationship with your viewers. And if you’re a communications company, you can no longer rely exclusively on oversized bundles of content.

As AT&T has been transitioning to a media company, it has been aggressively investing in a 5G network. Due to the decline in subscribers of its satellite TV company DirectTV, AT&T expects to see a decline in 2019 video subscribers — but hopes to attract higher Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) subscribers by expanding its fiber network.