AT&T, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Amazon Leo announced a collaboration this week that promises to “modernize the nation’s connectivity infrastructure” by combining the AT&T’s fiber network with the artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud capabilities of AWS.
As part of the partnership, AT&T will move workloads from many of its on-premises technologies to the cloud-based AWS Outposts. The press release about the AT&T/Amazon partnership said this will “improve the speed of its internal transformation and operational efficiency.”
AWS will benefit from the partnership as AT&T connects the company’s data centers via fiber, which is expected to enhance security and reliability.
Additionally, AT&T will collaborate with Amazon Leo to provide satellite broadband connectivity to some AT&T customers. An AT&T spokesperson told Telecompetitor: “We’ll use Amazon Leo to deliver fixed broadband internet to business customers in areas where connectivity is needed.”
The spokesperson did not specify anything about the timing of the potential offering.
“This collaboration with AWS marks a pivotal step forward in shaping the future of connectivity in the United States,” AT&T Senior Vice President of Product, AT&T Business Shawn Hakl said in a prepared statement.
“Fiber is the foundation of that future — it delivers the speed, capacity, and reliability that modern networks demand. By pairing our expanding fiber infrastructure with AWS’s cloud capabilities, and through our collaboration to deliver the infrastructure of the future by connecting data centers, we’re creating a more resilient, scalable, and intelligent connectivity ecosystem. AT&T provides customers with reliable, high-speed connectivity wherever they need it.”
The AT&T/Amazon deal appears to be similar to a 2021 deal between Verizon and Amazon under which Verizon planned to use low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband connectivity from Amazon to provide backhaul for 5G service in rural areas.
