AT&T confirmed on Wednesday that it will deploy its 4G LTE network in five markets this summer, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The carrier did not specify additional markets slated to be rolled out in 2011, but it did say 10 additional markets will be deployed this year and 70 million Americans will be covered by the end of 2011. By contrast, Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network is currently available in 55 markets and it expects to deploy in 23 more markets next month. AT&T said it expects its network to offer LTE data speeds on a par with its competitors. Hit the break for AT&T’s full press release.
AT&T’s 4G Evolution
Dallas, Texas, May 25, 2011
By John Donovan, AT&T Chief Technology Officer
AT&T has delivered five mobile broadband speed upgrades in recent years, including our HSPA+ deployment last year. And average nationwide speeds on the AT&T network have increased – more than 40 percent over the past two years alone.
The next network evolution will arrive this summer with the addition of LTE in five markets – Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio. We plan to add another 10 or more markets in the second half of the year, and cover 70 million Americans with LTE by year-end. We also have plans to add 20 4G devices to our robust device portfolio this year, with some of those being LTE capable.
We’re positioning to deliver a great mobile broadband experience in the near term with HSPA+ and a growing LTE footprint.
We’ve invested $75 billion in our wireless and wired networks over the last four years – more capital invested in the U.S. than any company in any industry. And we plan to invest $19 billion in our wireless and wireline networks and other capital projects this year. The investments we’ve made to evolve our mobile broadband network in recent years, plus what we have planned for the future, put our customers in position to benefit fully from a host of coming mobile broadband innovations.
