Oct 28 (Reuters) - AT&T ( T ) said on Monday it had

struck a $1 billion multi-year deal with Corning to buy

fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions, as the U.S. telecom

giant looks to expand its high-speed internet services.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

With the U.S. wireless market facing a slowdown, telecom

companies such as AT&T ( T ) and rival Verizon have doubled

down on their high-speed internet businesses, an area that has

long been dominated by broadband companies such as Comcast ( CMCSA )

.

Demand has also been growing for AT&T's ( T ) plans that allow

customers to combine its high-speed fiber data with its wireless

phone service for a discount.

The company expects the deal with Corning to boost its

network expansion and enhance performance while minimizing

deployment costs.

In the third quarter, AT&T ( T ) reported 28.3 million fiber

passings, or the number of potential customer locations a fiber

network passes by. It remains on track to pass more than 30

million fiber passings by the end of 2025.

CONTEXT

AT&T's ( T ) fiber business added 226,000 customers in the third

quarter, falling short of expectations for 257,860 additions,

according to Visible Alpha.

This was primarily due to a work stoppage that began in

August in its southeast region and impacted fiber installations.