AT&T Invests more than $950 Million in SC from 2008 – 2011 to Improve Local Networks

Company Builds New Cell Sites, Boosts Capacity and Adds Fiber Optics
to Enhance Networks
 
COLUMBIA, SC – February 16, 2012 – AT&T* invested more than $950million in its South Carolina wireless and wireline networks from 2008through 2011 with a focus on improving the company’s mobile broadbandcoverage and overall performance of its networks.
 
“Private-sector investment is the engine which will power economicrecovery and in today’s globally-connected marketplace, advancedcommunication services and technologies are vital,” said state Sen.Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston).  “Announcements such as this are why theGeneral Assembly has worked diligently over a number of years to updateand modernize communications laws to attract the investments thatsupport economic opportunities for individuals and businesses. It isgood to see that our efforts are continuing to pay dividends for thepeople of South Carolina.”
 
During 2011, AT&T made more than 950 wireless network upgrades infour key categories in South Carolina. These enhancements include:

• Activating nearly 20 new cell sites or towers to improve network coverage.
• Deploying faster fiber-optic connections to more than 550 cellsites. Combined with HSPA+ technology, these deployments enable 4Gspeeds**.
• Adding capacity or an extra layer of frequency to cell sites – likeadding lanes to a highway – with the addition of more than 275 of theselayers, or “carriers”.
• Upgrading more than 110 cell sites to provide fast mobile broadband speeds.

“New jobs and economic growth depend on the advanced communicationsservices and infrastructure which these investment dollars deliver,”said Pamela Lackey, President, AT&T South Carolina. “Investing atthis level is made possible by the hard work of South Carolina’sforward-looking policymakers in creating a legal and regulatory climatethat facilitates competition and encourages the commitment of privatecapital. We look forward to the opportunities which the products andservices powered by these investments will bring to our state.” “Our goal is to deliver a network experience that mobilizes everythingfor customers,” said Laurent Therivel, AT&T’s VP/GM of Mobility andConsumer Markets in the Carolinas. “The ongoing investment we’re makingin South Carolina is designed to increase coverage and reliability, andto provide advanced services to our customers.”

CNN Money recently recognized AT&T for enhancing its wirelessnetwork. Last year, AT&T completed 150,000 network enhancementsacross the country, more than triple the year before, giving customersmore capacity and faster speeds, as well as improving 3G dropped-callperformance by 25 percent.
 
AT&T plans to support the build or upgrade of thousands of cellsites nationwide to increase network speed, coverage and reliability forboth mobile voice and broadband services. In addition, AT&T plansto install additional radio “carriers” at thousands of cell sitesnationally, enabling new layers of spectrum capacity to carry largervolumes of mobile broadband traffic. Additional capacity helps supportrising mobile data traffic volumes, which continue to increase at arapid pace.
 
AT&T operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network***with nearly 30,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to nearly190,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&Tsmartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network atno additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn’t count against customers’monthly wireless data plans.
 
For more information about AT&T’s coverage in South Carolina oranywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T CoverageViewer. Using the online tool, AT&T customers can measure coveragequality of coverage from a street address, intersection, ZIP code oreven a landmark.
For updates on the AT&T wireless network, pleasevisit the AT&T network news page.
 

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world.Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – arethe providers of AT&T services in the United States and around theworld. With a powerful array of network resources that includes thenation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leadingprovider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-basedservices. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities,AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S.carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the mostcountries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&TU-verse® and AT&T │DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-basedbusiness communications services is one of the most advanced in theworld. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&TInteractive are known for their leadership in local search andadvertising.
 
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