CHICAGO, Oct. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At
AT&T1, we've invested nearly $3-Billion in our Illinois wireless and wired networks during
2014-2016. These investments drive a wide range of upgrades to
reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents
and businesses. They also improve critical services that support
public safety and first responders.
In 2016, AT&T made more than 1,100 wireless network upgrades
in Illinois. We added new cell
sites, addition of network capacity, and new wireless high-speed
Internet connections.
Following the passage of recent state legislation, AT&T will
continue its investment in Illinois with additional upgrades.
"Illinois state lawmakers are
taking steps to ensure that our state's policies pave the way for
more investment in communications networks that residents and
businesses rely on throughout the state," said Paul La Schiazza, AT&T Illinois
President. "Customer demand is skyrocketing and we continue
working to bring more investment into Illinois to help fuel the economy, create jobs
and deliver connections and entertainment to our customers."
The AT&T LTE network covers nearly 400 million people in
North America. Notable
Illinois network enhancements in
2016 included:
- The construction of 54 new cell sites
- The expansion of LTE to 13 Central
Illinois counties
- More than 1,000 LTE capacity upgrades
- Installation of Ultra-fast internet powered by AT&T Fiber
in more than 200,000 living units in Chicago and dozens of suburban
communities.
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) recently chose
AT&T to build a nationwide public safety broadband network. The
network will be dedicated to America's police, firefighters, EMS
personnel and other first responders when they need it. Should
Illinois opt-in to the FirstNet
network, we will build upon our current and planned investments
with a dedicated focus on the state's first responders.
And we would expect to make a significant investment to upgrade
and maintain Illinois's FirstNet network over the next
25 years, bringing your first responders the coverage, value and
experience they expect.
For the third year in a row, FORTUNE magazine recognized
AT&T as the Most Admired Telecommunications Company in the
world in 2017. We also No. 37 among the Top 50 World's Most
Admired companies.
AT&T is the only telecommunications company on the list. We
ranked No. 1 in all 9 attributes. This included innovation,
financial soundness and quality of products/services.
We continue to expand the scope of our ultra-fast internet
powered by AT&T Fiber.
We have the largest fiber network within our 21-state wireline
footprint.2 We also now market a 1 gigabit
connection3 on our 100% fiber connection to over
5.5 million locations across 57 major metros areas. We'll plan to
reach at least 75 major metros overall. We've added more than 1.5
million locations this year. We plan to add another 1.5 million
locations by the end of the year. We plan to reach at least 12.5
million locations by mid-2019.
We have an extensive Wi-Fi network with more than 40,000
AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores
and retailers. And we provide access to Wi-Fi at more than 1
million locations around the world. Most AT&T smartphone and
home internet customers get access to the entire national AT&T
Wi-Fi Hot Spot network.4 at no additional cost. Wi-Fi
usage doesn't count against customers' monthly wireless data
plans.
To learn more about our coverage in Illinois or anywhere in the U.S., visit the
AT&T Coverage Viewer. For updates on the AT&T wireless
network, please visit the AT&T network news page.
1 AT&T products and services are
provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc.
under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T
Inc.
2 Based on publicly available
data for the top fiber providers in the AT&T operating
footprint.
3 Actual customer speeds may
vary. Download speeds are typically up to 940Mbps due to overhead
capacity reserved to deliver the data.
4
Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See
www.attwifi.com for details and locations
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
Information set forth in this news release
contains financial estimates and other forward- looking statements
that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may
differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future
results is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update or
revise statements contained in this news release based on new
information or otherwise.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions
around the globe connect with leading entertainment, business,
mobile and high speed internet services. We offer the nation's best
data network** and the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless
provider. We're one of the world's largest providers of pay TV. We
have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries.
Nearly 3.5 million companies, from small to large businesses around
the globe, turn to AT&T for our highly secure smart
solutions.
AT&T products and services are provided or offered by
subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T
brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about
AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com.
Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at facebook.com/att
and on YouTube at youtube.com/att.
© 2017 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service
marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated
companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of
their respective owners.
**Claim based on the Nielsen Certified Data Network Score. Score
includes data reported by wireless consumers in the Nielsen Mobile
Insights survey, network measurements from Nielsen Mobile
Performance and Nielsen Drive Test Benchmarks for Q1 + Q2 2017
across 121 markets.
From FORTUNE Magazine, March 1,
2017. 2017 Time Inc. FORTUNE© and The World's Most Admired
Companies® are registered trademarks of Time Inc. and are used
under License. FORTUNE and Time Inc. are not affiliated with, and
do not endorse products or services of, AT&T.
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-invests-nearly-3-billion-over-3-year-period-to-enhance-local-networks-in-illinois-300531053.html
SOURCE AT&T Inc.