AT&T unveiled a new initiative to keep and attract subscribers by offering bill credits for outages on its fibre and wireless networks, which it claimed marks an industry first.  

As part of the operator’s AT&T Guarantee, fibre customers who experience outages of 20 minutes or more, and wireless customers who experience 60 minutes or more of a covered outage, will automatically receive a bill credit equalling a full day of service.

For small businesses that experience service disruptions, AT&T stated it will provide them with options “to make it right”. The guarantee starts from today (9 January).

Jenifer Robertson, EVP and GM, AT&T Mass Markets & Mobility, stated the operator has invested more than $140 billion in its network and almost a $1 billion in customer care and operation since 2019.

“And that’s brought us to where we are today – becoming the first and only carrier that offers a guarantee for wireless and fibre networks,” she said.

In Q3 2024, AT&T added more post-paid phone additions than rival Verizon, but trailed T-Mobile US by a wide margin.

In February 2024, the mobile operator suffered a 12-hour network outage that impacted more than 92 million phone calls and prevented more than 25,000 emergency calls.

All voice and 5G data services for AT&T wireless customers were unavailable during the incident, impacting more than 125 million devices. Those same services were also inaccessible to MVNOs that rely on AT&T’s network.