AT&T says it will end DEI programs in bid to please FCC

AT&T confirmed it will be terminating its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs as a bid to win Federal Communications Commission (FCC) favor.

The telecommunications giant has been awaiting FCC approval on a billion dollar spectrum license purchase made in 2024, and made a commitment to scaling back its DEI efforts earlier this year. According to a letter sent to the agency, AT&T has shuttered any and all roles, employee groups, and programs related to DEI policies.

"The legal landscape governing diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’) policies and programs has changed," wrote the company. "AT&T has always stood for merit-based opportunity, and we are pleased to reaffirm our commitment to equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination today."

It's not the first mobile carrier to acquiesce to the administration's anti-woke crusade. The FCC, headed by Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr, has been on a concerted mission to eliminate DEI programs across the telecommunications sector, including pressuring companies to terminate their commitments in order to win approval from the agency.

In May, Verizon ended its DEI policies to win a $20 billion bid for ownership of broadband provider Frontier Communications, which included removing all DEI language from internal and external materials, ending diversity hiring bonuses, and dissolving human resources departments dedicated to DEI. Competitor T-Mobile made the same compromise in July, terminating DEI programs to win two deals with the FCC.

Carr has previously launched anti-DEI probes of major entertainment and broadcast companies, including Disney and ABC, as well as publicly-funded media, like NPR and PBS. In addition, the agency has slashed at affordable broadband and fiber-optic plans, which predominately help low-income and rural communities, as part of the Trump administration's attack on Biden-Harris equity projects.

AT&T has also been a leader in affordable connectivity projects, including bringing fiber-optic broadband internet to Indigenous communities and explicit commitments to closing the digital divide.

"Companies should remember that abandoning fairness and inclusion for short-term gain will be a stain to their reputation long into the future," said FCC Democrat Anna Gomez in a statement following AT&T's announcement.