AT&T Counts on Stimulus Dollars to Help Fund Its Broadband Push

AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Stankey doesn’t usually fire up the company jet for a mere $39 million network expansion project. But there he was, in Evansville, Ind., sporting a blue vest with an AT&T Fiber logo as he shook hands with local politicians and posed for photos with residents and employees.

Skipping a day’s worth of meetings at the Dallas headquarters to hobnob at a local groundbreaking indicates just how important Stankey considers the expansion of AT&T’s fiber network; it’s part of his strategy to refocus the company around offering greater telecommunications connectivity now that it’s left behind ...