AT&T Announces Expansion Plans, Dividend Increase

By Trey Thoelcke Published Nov 8, 6:27AM EST

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At its annual analysts conference, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) said it plans to invest $14 billion over the next three years for wireless and wired capital improvements. This includes an expansion of 4G LTE service to 300 million people by the end of 2014, a big challenge to cable and satellite providers.

The carrier had previously announced plans to buy additional wireless spectrum in order to reach 250 million people nationwide with LTE by the end of 2013.

The overall plan is called Project VIP, and its investments include $8 billion for wireless and $6 billion for wired. That will bring total capital spending to $22 billion per year for the next three years. Greater revenue opportunities from the investments are expected to boost AT&T’s earnings per share in the mid-single digits and expand consolidated margins over three years.

AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said:

We have the opportunity to improve AT&T’s revenue growth and cost structure for years to come, and create substantial value for shareowners. Revenues in our key growth areas — wireless data, U-verse and strategic business services — are all growing at a strong double-digit rate. Project VIP expands our potential in these key platforms and makes them available to many more customers. With our strong balance sheet, these capital investments are manageable. We are very confident in our ability to execute this plan.

As a sign of that confidence, the AT&T board of directors raised the quarterly dividend rate 2.3% to $0.45 a share on a quarterly basis, or from $1.76 to $1.80 a share on an annualized basis. That is the 29th consecutive annual dividend increase.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.