AT&T is investing more than $3 billion over the next several years on a Corning-based fiber diet that the telecom giant is targeting at the growing broadband appetite of its customers.

The multi-year deal will have U.S.-based Corning provide fiber and cables to AT&T as it expands its wired network. The carrier noted that expansion is tied to extending internet connectivity “as AI drives growing data demand.”

AT&T backed that “demand” by stating its average fiber customer currently consumes more than one terabyte of data per month, which is five-times more than what was digested 10 years ago.

“And that number is expected to keep climbing,” the carrier added. “As streaming, gaming, video calls, cloud services, and AI become a bigger part of everyday life, monthly use is expected to reach two to 2.5 terabytes by 2030.”

The deal furthers AT&T’s ongoing fiber push that has the carrier touting plans to pass more than 30 million locations and count 60 million fiber-connected internet customers by the end of 2030.

AT&T executives have repeatedly touted fiber as the superior transport medium.

“Fiber and fiber broadband is a superior product,” AT&T CEO John Stankey told an audience at the recent Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference. “And that is what drives a lot of the surprise and delight that ultimately gives a customer the better brand point of view, makes the entire bundle stickier, and allows you to, over that lifetime value, grow some accretion and benefit.”

AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches earlier this year bluntly noted that data center connectivity is reliant on the carrier’s network assets, with a particular reliance on AT&T’s fiber-based architecture to connect increasingly AI-heavy workloads

“AI doesn't exist without our connectivity … plain and simple,” Desroches said during the 2026 Mizuho Technology Conference. “And we know one thing for sure that data consumption is going to continue to go up under AI.”

Corning's fiber flush

The AT&T deal comes on the heels of rival Verizon striking its own multi-year, multibillion-dollar agreement with Corning. That arrangement calls for Corning to provide Verizon with more than 80 million miles of high-density optical fiber through 2032.

While a specific figure was not given, the partnership was described as a multibillion-dollar deal that runs through 2032. Verizon expects the multi-use fiber deployment to reach up to 50 million broadband passings in the U.S., expanding fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and local business connectivity with cell towers, data centers, and residential neighborhoods tethered to the same high-capacity backbone.

Verizon’s announcement touted its 30-year partnership with Corning, while detailing how the expansion is underpinned by Corning's Contour Flow ribbon cable offering, helping the operator to roll out "significantly" more optical fiber within conduit pathways.

Verizon also talked up its AI Connect strategy, with high-density fiber deemed essential to the AI buildout led by hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), with whom the firm holds an AI-focused networking deal.

Corning has also struck fiber gold in recent deals with Zayo, AWS, and Nvidia.