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AT&T Makes Numerous Investments to Enhance Local Networks

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AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) recently announced that it made numerous notable investments in its several wireless and wired networks during 2015 to 2017. Some of these include investment of about $80 million in Dayton wireless and wired networks, about $225 million in Akron wireless and wired networks, almost $110 million in Cincinnati wireless and wired networks as well as more than $1.3 billion in Ohio wireless and wired networks.

As part of the investments, in 2017, the company completed more than 210 wireless network upgrades in the Dayton area and more than 150 upgrades in the Akron area. Also, in 2017, the company made more than 130 wireless network upgrades in the Cincinnati area apart from above 1,300 upgrades in the Ohio region. Notably, all these upgrades include new cell sites and additional network capacity these regions.

Also, the company invested about $50 million and $30 million in its Toledo and Youngstown wireless and wired networks, respectively, during 2015-2017. Notably, in 2017, it made an upgrade of more than 30 wireless network in the Toledo area and 210 upgrades in the Youngstown area. Further, the company’s investment of approximately $250 million and $110 million in its Columbus and Pittsburgh wireless and wired networks, respectively, are noteworthy. In 2017, as part of these investments, the company made nearly 300 and more than 500 wireless network upgrades in the Columbus and Pittsburgh areas, respectively.

During 2015-2017, AT&T also made an investment of more than $1.8 billion in its North Carolina wireless and wired networks apart from about $700 million in its Mississippi wireless and wired networks. Other investments of the company during the same time frame include more than $45 million in its Providence/New Bedford/Fall River area wireless and wired networks, about $50 million in its Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk area network and almost $50 Million in its New Haven/Milford area wireless and wired networks.

Notably, all these investments will enable the company to enhance coverage, speed, reliability as well as overall performance for residents and businesses of the respective areas.

Of late, the company has been building its 4G LTE network and presently covers more than 400 million people in North America. Also, it is gearing up to launch the first standards-based mobile 5G services to consumers in multiple U.S. markets by the end of 2018. AT&T has been working hard since 2017 to lay the foundation for mobile 5G network.

In December 2017, AT&T initiated its largest 5G fixed wireless trial in Waco, TX, partnering with the home and lifestyle brand, Magnolia. Notably, the completion of 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s first implementable 5G new radio (NR) specification has set the stage for the global mobile industry to start full-scale development of 5G NR for large-scale trials and commercial deployments in 2019. This offers a competitive advantage to AT&T.

However, strong competition from various big and small market players including T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS - Free Report) , Sprint Corporation (S - Free Report) and Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS - Free Report) remains a threat to AT&T’s profitability.

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