AT&T Invests More Than $1.4 Billion Over 3-Year Period to Boost Local Networks in Alabama
News Release Issued by AT&T on June 25, 2019
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MONTGOMERY, Ala., — AT&T has invested more than $1.4 billion in Alabama wireless and wired networks during 2016-2018. These investments boost reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. AT&T has improved critical services that support Public Safety and first responders using the FirstNet communications platform.
“Alabama’s leaders have worked hard to create an environment that welcomes this level of investment from AT&T and others in the private sector,” said Katie Boyd Britt, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama. “In order to pave the way for sustained investment and ensure our residents and businesses in communities across Alabama enjoy the type of connectivity they need and want, both today and tomorrow, Alabama must work to find solutions to expand wireless broadband.”
The AT&T LTE network now covers more than 400 million people in North America. In 2018, AT&T made hundreds of wireless network upgrades in Alabama, including the construction and activation of 8 new cell sites. Notable Alabama network enhancements in 2018 included more than 1160 LTE capacity adds to over 530 cell sites across Alabama.
“The significant investments AT&T is making in Alabama allows our over 4,600 AT&T employees who call Alabama home to enhance our wireless and wired networks and bring a host of new, innovative opportunities to keep communities and first responders connected, drive economic growth and spur job creation,” said AT&T Alabama president Wayne Hutchens.
Building upon the current and planned investments in Alabama, AT&T continues to extend the reach and increase the capacity of the FirstNet communications platform:
• Deployed Band 14 spectrum in more than 600 markets nationwide, including Anniston, Birmingham, Franklin, Gadsden, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa. Band 14 is high-quality spectrum provided by the First Responder Network Authority. Its signal covers larger geographic areas with less infrastructure to better support rural communities, and it can better reach in-building in more urban areas as compared to higher-MHz spectrum.
• Alabama first responders enjoy the fastest overall experience on FirstNet, compared to any commercial network in the nation, thanks to the specialized capabilities enabled by the physically separate and dedicated FirstNet network core, like always-on priority and preemption.
FirstNet is built with AT&T in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority – an independent agency within the federal government. This helps ensure that the FirstNet communications platform and service offerings meet the short- and long-term needs of the public safety community