AT&T Invests $275M In Michigan Networks In First Half Of 2013
DETROIT (WWJ) -- AT&T Inc. announced Friday that it had invested more than $275 million in its networks, both wireless and wireleine, in Michigan in the first half of 2013.
The investments included deployment of new macro cell sites, small cells and Distributed Antenna Systems across the state as a part of AT&T's Project Velocity IP, a three-year investment plan announced last fall to expand and enhance its IP broadband networks.
The company also expanded and enhanced its 4G LTE network, which provides ultra-fast mobile Internet speeds, and deployed new Wi-Fi hot spots.
Project Velocity IP is also spurring the deployment of advanced fiber-optic connections to thousands of Michigan businesses. In just the first six months of 2013, more than 2,150 additional business customer locations in Michigan -- located in more than 70 multi-tenant office buildings across the state -- now have access to fast, reliable connections to Internet and cloud-based resources, which ride on the fiber network.
AT&T says that according to independent third-party data, it has the highest success rate for delivering mobile content across nationwide 4G LTE networks. And its 4G LTE service was recognized as having faster average download and upload speeds than any of our competitors in PCWorld/TechHive's most recent 20-market speed tests, the second consecutive year that AT&T has ranked first overall.
PCWorld/TechHive also ranked AT&T's as the fastest combination of 3G and 4G services in the 20 cities it tested.
And AT&T was named America's fastest 4G LTE network in PC Magazine's 2013 Fastest Mobile Networks 30-market study – sweeping the top rankings in all six U.S. regions from coast to coast: Northeast, Southeast, North-Central, South-Central, Northwest and Southwest.
"Fast, reliable connectivity is essential to both quality of life and competitiveness at work," said Jim Murray, president of AT&T Michigan. "No one understands that better than we do, and no one is doing more than AT&T to mobilize a world that works for people in Michigan. With initiatives like Project Velocity IP, we're working to ensure that Michigan consumers and businesses remain at the leading edge of broadband services."
In addition, RootMetrics has awarded AT&T 1st or tied for 1st for strongest overall call, text, and data performance in 66 of 125 national markets -- including 2 of 5 in Michigan, where AT&T was tied for 1st in Flint and Grand Rapids -- from January through June this year.
The 2013 year-to-date network investment builds on the more than $1.5 billion that AT&T has invested in its Michigan wireless and wired networks from 2010 through 2012.
AT&T 4G LTE is now available in multiple areas of the state, including Metro Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Nationwide, more than 225 million Americans have access to AT&T 4G LTE service. By year-end 2013, AT&T expects to cover nearly 270 million people and 400 markets with its 4G LTE network.
For more information about AT&T's coverage in Michigan or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer.
