AT&T Invests Nearly $5.3 Billion Over 3-Year Period to Boost Local Networks in Georgia

ATLANTA, Aug. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- At AT&T¹, we've invested nearly $5.3 billion in our Georgia wireless and wired networks during 2015-2017. These investments boost reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. They also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders.

"In my time as governor, we have attracted and supported companies that are committed to investing in Georgia and improving the quality of life for our citizens through innovation and expansion," said Governor Nathan Deal. "By helping to deliver broadband to rural classrooms and partnering with the state on FirstNet to help first responders, AT&T continues to invest in Georgia's communities and people. These partnerships and long-term initiatives, including the expansion of AT&T's wireless and wired networks, are critical for Georgia to maintain its distinction as the No. 1 state in which to do business and remain the best place to live, work and raise a family."

"Governor Deal has created an environment that welcomes this level of investment from AT&T and others in the private sector," said Georgia Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Chris Clark. "But, we must remember that the communications industry is rapidly changing. Georgia must remove barriers to infrastructure deployment – to pave the way for small cell deployment and future technologies such as 5G and AirGig – in order to ensure that our residents and businesses in communities across Georgia enjoy the type connectivity they need, both today and in the future."

The AT&T LTE network now covers more than 400 million people in North America. In 2017, AT&T made over 4,300 wireless network upgrades in Georgia, including the construction and activation of 32 new cell sites. Notable Georgia network enhancements in 2017 included more than 2,700 LTE capacity adds to over 2,700 cell sites across Georgia.

By building out our 4G LTE network, we're laying the foundation for 5G, the next advance in network technologies. We're boosting network speeds and capacity, as we continue to expand the availability of our network using the latest technology.

"Our customers are the reason AT&T exists. And, being a part of enhancing and connecting their lives with new technology and services is why we are here," said Bill Leahy, president of AT&T Georgia. "The significant investments AT&T is making in Georgia allows our tens of thousands of AT&T employees who call Georgia home to expand our fiber network and bring a host of new, innovative opportunities to keep communities and first responders connected, drive economic growth and spur job creation."

Since the formation of the FirstNet public-private partnership a little over a year ago, governors from all 50 states, 5 territories and D.C. recognized the value of FirstNet, joining in its mission to strengthen and modernize public safety's communications capabilities.

FirstNet is a new nationwide communications platform dedicated to America's public safety community. As we build, deploy and evolve FirstNet, we will build upon our current and planned investments in Georgia to help ensure public safety's network delivers the coverage and cutting-edge capabilities first responders expect – today and for decades to come.

For the 4^th year in a row, AT&T earned the top spot in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE's Most Admired Companies list in 2018. We also placed No. 49 among the 50 most admired companies across all industries.

We were ranked first or second in all 9 attributes used to compile the list, including innovation, people management, quality of management, long-term investment value, quality of products/services and global competitiveness.

Our internet offerings
We continue to expand the scope of our ultra-fast internet powered by AT&T Fiber. We now market our ultra-fast internet service powered by AT&T Fiber to more than 850,000 customer locations in the Georgia area.

We have the largest fiber network within our 21-state wireline footprint.¹ And AT&T is the largest U.S.-based provider of fiber for business services, creating an unparalleled ability to serve businesses of all sizes.

We also now market a 1 gigabit connection² on our 100% fiber network to 9 million locations across 71 major metro areas nationwide.  We plan to reach at least 14 million locations across at least 84 metro areas by mid-2019 for consumers.

Additionally, AT&T* Fixed Wireless Internet³  for rural and underserved locations is now available to more than 27,000 residents and small businesses in parts of the following 46 Georgia Counties: Appling, Baker, Bleckley, Burke, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Echols, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Fulton, Grady, Greene, Hancock, Haralson, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Lowndes, McDuffie, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Morgan, Pierce, Pike, Sumter, Thomas, Toombs, Twiggs, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne and Worth.

Fixed Wireless Internet service delivers an internet connection with download speeds of at least 10Mbps and upload speeds of at least 1Mbps. The connection comes from a wireless tower to a fixed antenna on a customer's home or business. This is an efficient way to deliver high-quality, high-speed Internet to customers living in underserved rural areas.

The towers used to provide this service are connected to AT&T's network using AT&T fiber optics.  AT&T has nearly 4.7 million strand miles of AT&T fiber optics covering Georgia, which enables the company to offer a wide variety of products and services delivering the high-speed connectivity Georgia businesses and residents need.

To learn more about our coverage in Georgia, 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.

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 have the nation's largest and most reliable 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. More than 3 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.

© 2018 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.

**Coverage not avail. everywhere. Based on overall coverage in U.S. licensed/roaming areas. Reliability based on voice and data performance from independent 3^rd party data.

From FORTUNE Magazine. 2018 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.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

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