AT&T now says it will continue its already-announced fiber optic network expansion to 100 cities, backtracking on comments by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson after President Obama voiced support for net neutrality last month.

The move brought a strong retort from critics who say the carrier’s fiber optic plans are mostly bogus and were designed as a competitive play against the ongoing Google Fiber rollout. The purported delay in AT&T’s investments was quickly seen as an empty threat.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sent Nov. 25, AT&T said won’t limit future fiber-to-the-premises deployments to 2 million homes as part of its $49 billion deal to acquire DirecTV. That contrasts with what Stephenson said Nov. 12.

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