AT&T Service Upgrades Bring Faster Mobile Web Around Michigan

DETROIT (WWJ) -- AT&T Inc. announced the availability of its mobile Internet service with the activation of three new cell sites, one each in Beaverton and Rogers City in northeast Lower Michigan and Ishpeming in the central Upper Peninsula.

The new towers extend access for advanced mobile services, devices and applications to customers in the area.

In addition, mobile Internet service was added to four cell sites in Iosco County and Charelvoix Counties in the northern Lower Peninsula and one in Marquette County in the UP.

AT&T also announced the addition of new layers of frequency, also known as "carriers," in a variety of areas around the state -- more than 100 cell sites in St. Clair, Macomb, Lapeer, Oakland and Livingston counties in southeast Michigan; Chippewa county in the eastern Upper Peninsula; and along and near I-96 in Ionia and Kent counties in west Michigan.

AT&T also announced the addition of its 4G LTE high-speed data service in the Battle Creek and Jackson areas.

Many of the upgrades are part of AT&T's Project Velocity IP, a three-year plan announced last fall to expand and enhance the company's IP broadband networks. Through this investment, AT&T is supporting its customers' growing desire for high-speed Internet access and new mobile, app and cloud-based services.

"AT&T invested more than $275 million in its Michigan wireless and wired networks in the first half of 2013 alone, so these network enhancements in northern Michigan are just the latest examples of AT&T's significant infrastructure investment," said Jim Murray, president of AT&T Michigan.

AT&T claims the nation's largest Wi-Fi network, with more than 32,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores and retailers across the country, and provides access to more than 461,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to the company's national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn't count against customers' monthly wireless data plans.

From 2007 to 2012, AT&T invested more than $116 billion into its wireless and wireline networks across the country. Since 2007, AT&T has invested more capital into the U.S. economy than any other public company. In a September 2013 report, the Progressive Policy Institute ranked AT&T No. 1 on its list of U.S. "Investment Heroes."

For more information about AT&T's coverage in northern Michigan or anywhere else, visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer at www.att.com/maps/wireless-coverage.html.