AT&T Plans $1 Billion Investment in 2010 in Network Capabilities, Solutions and Applications For Businesses

DALLAS, April 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T* plans to invest approximately $1 billion in 2010 to scale its delivery of applications, mobility and cloud services for global companies, to expand small business services within the United States and to continue extending its network globally.

The 2010 investment program for businesses is part of AT&T's overall existing capital plan.  With business customers seizing the opportunities created by the continued proliferation of high speed communication networks and mobile computing devices worldwide, AT&T's 2010 program includes:

• Scaling Application Services – enhancing AT&T's current portfolio of flexible collaboration services and applications such as managed hosting, cloud-based services, Telepresence, Unified Communications, Digital Media Solutions and security.  
• Enterprise Mobility Applications – continuing AT&T's focus on delivering mobile solutions, applications and integrated devices to companies of all sizes.  This includes continued investment in LTE- and Wi-Fi-based applications to support the dramatic increase in demand for mobile broadband-based services.
• Vertical Industry Focus – creating and deploying applications in the finance, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, education and government sectors, expanding its presence in emerging applications including markets such as machine-to- machine communication and rolling out fixed mobile convergence and location based solutions, along with mobile platform and portal enhancements.
• Enhancing Small Business – deploying platforms and systems across its 22-state U.S. footprint to deliver an enhanced customer experience and to accelerate the provisioning of multiple products and services.  AT&T also plans to increase broadband speeds up to 24 Mbps downstream where possible in more than 120 markets across AT&T's 22-state U.S. footprint.
• Global Network Expansion – continuing to build out its global network to deliver services and applications to the markets and geographies where multinational companies today are doing business and/or housing their operations. The AT&T network now reaches countries that represent 99% of the global economy.

"Despite the continuing challenges of today's economic environment, we continue to deliver on our commitment to provide companies with the network-centric capabilities and applications they need to enhance their operations," said Ron Spears, President and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions.  "IP-based solutions and applications have become ever more important to companies aiming to take their productivity to a new level while transforming their operations to adapt to their customers' changing needs."

Including this year's planned investment, AT&T will have invested more than $4 billion since 2006 in business-focused network, systems and applications to provide a globally consistent set of robust and highly-secure services to the more than 3.5 million business customers it serves.

AT&T is capitalizing on the ongoing shift in network traffic from voice to data and video — and more importantly to IP-based data and video — as customers migrate from legacy data networks to MPLS-based virtual private networks and managed applications.

Specific areas of AT&T's planned investment in 2010 include:

• Global Network Expansion:
  • Deploy, upgrade or add diverse IPv6-capable MPLS nodes to support Layer 3 VPN and Global Managed Internet Services, including gigabit ethernet customer access across multiple locations in:
    • Europe: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Sweden.
    • Asia Pac:  Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.
    • C&LA: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Peru.
  • Leverage AT&T's network expansion to improve capacity and diversity, and offer services in new markets, expanding the global OPT-E-WAN service footprint from 31 countries to 37 countries.
  • Enhance application reporting and performance management.
  • Expand the footprint and capabilities of carrier class switched Ethernet Wireless Backhaul solutions.
  • Continue to expand Ethernet over copper deployment over AT&T's U.S. footprint to better support customers as they evolve from lower-speed connectivity to Ethernet.  
  • Introduce a new metro switched Ethernet service across AT&T's 22 state U.S. footprint, delivering additional capabilities and bandwidth options while eventually streamlining our Ethernet portfolio.
  • Continue to enhance capabilities of managed AT&T Virtual Private Network Services on a global basis.
  • Deploy IPv6 capable MPLS core routers in Hawaii and Guam to provide an interconnection point for Transpacific cables between the U.S., Australia, Singapore, China and Japan to improve resiliency and performance in the Asia Pacific network.
• Additional sub sea cable capacity to ensure diversity and resilience including:
  • 180G of new capacity into the Caribbean and South America
  • Over 350G of new capacity from the U.S. to and within Asia Pacific
  • 70G of capacity from the U.S. to Europe
  • This capacity spans multiple subsea cables with more diverse cable landings and terrestrial routing into major cities
• Emerging Mobility Applications:
  • Extend offers and solutions in three core categories - applications, machine-to-machine (M2M) and integrated network solutions.  
  • Continue to expand AT&T's portfolio of mobile applications across multiple vertical industries, focusing on smart grid solutions and mHealth.
  • Offer enhanced solutions that take advantage of AT&T's converged fixed and mobile networks including network-based and premise based fixed mobile convergence and super femtocell technology.
  • Increase support for the more than 750 wireless devices already connected to the AT&T network – such as e-readers, netbooks, digital photo frames, personal navigation devices, and home security monitoring and smart grid devices – for use by business customers.
• Hosting/Cloud Infrastructure Services:
  • Continue to develop and deploy cloud based managed hosting and Infrastructure as a Service capabilities.
  • Add cloud enablers to AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service that serve as a gateway between customers' storage systems and AT&T's cloud.
  • Introduce new turnkey Synaptic Hosting (Utility Computing) products, tailored to small and medium sized businesses.
  • Add new managed hosting standardized packages, making it faster and easier to turn up AT&T Managed Hosting Services.
  • Open an additional internet data center in London.
  • Completing expansions of the Ashburn, Va. and Piscataway, N.J.  data centers.
• AT&T Digital Media Solutions:
  • Additional distribution with the addition of a node in Spain and increased capacity in the U.K. and Germany.
  • Add additional software features, such as Download Manager, to improve customer control and user experience.
  • Improve support for latest streaming technologies.
  • Broaden range of content creation and management tools and services.
• Unified Communications:  
  • AT&T Telepresence Solution:
    • Install additional telepresence rooms in AT&T offices in:
    • Europe: Belgium (Brussels), U.K. (Redditch), and Slovakia (Bratislava, Kosice).  
    • Asia Pac: Singapore (Singapore) and Malaysia (Cyberjaya)
    • India: Bangalore and Hinjewadi
    • Latin America: Brazil (Campinas)
    • Canada: Toronto
    • Install new AT&T Business Exchange nodes in Hong Kong and Netherlands to provide regional access and expanded support for Telepresence services. 
  • AT&T Connect® Global Conferencing enhancements:
    • Expansion of audio conferencing platform to Europe, providing seamless, global, cloud conferencing solutions.
    • Continued investments in enhancements and additional capacity supporting web and video conferencing solutions.
    • Add mobile applications designed to improved productivity of mobility users.
• Customer contact points:
  • Small Business Transformation:
    • Back-office platform – deliver a streamlined customer experience that includes IP-based bundled offers, integrating wireline and mobility portfolios across the 22-state local footprint.
    • Increase broadband speeds – up to a maximum of 24Mbps downstream in more than 120 markets across the 22-state footprint.
    • Online storefront consolidation – integration of all public internet B2B storefronts into a single att.com/small business storefront, with a consistent look and feel, intuitive offer buy flows, and consistent back office support processes.
  • Application Services: online inventory, ticketing, router monitoring and performance statistics via AT&T BusinessDirect® for existing VPN-managed router services
  • Mobility:
    • Mobile to Any Number for Business – unlimited calling to a user-defined list of wireless/wireline numbers with any carrier.  List will be easily established and maintained online via the AT&T Premier Mobility portal.  
    • Online Activation – quick and easy customer online activation of new mobility device/service via the AT&T Premier Mobility portal.
    • Network-Based Fixed Mobile Convergence – developing a network-based integrated wireline/wireless solution to provide fixed mobile convergence services for enterprises.
    • User Ratings –customers will be able to provide product ratings and reviews on new device purchases via the AT&T Premier Mobility portal.
    • Online Employee Shopping – employees of its corporate customers will be able to take advantage of AT&T Premier Mobility online buying and self-servicing utilities, even if their company does not establish a corporate site.
    • Usability Enhancements – improvements to AT&T Premier Mobility inventory reports and downloads, end user dashboards and platform performance.
  • Other:
    • Real-Time Provisioning - provisioning new service/logical change orders in minutes for AVPN and OPT-E-MAN services.  Logical changes can be implemented "real time" by customers via an intuitive AT&T BusinessDirect online ordering map.
    • AT&T BusinessDirect Enhancements – additional map-based ticketing, inventory, alarms and SLA credit requests; improved platform performance; increased mechanization for service order flow through/higher order quality with shorter delivery intervals.
• Vertical Market Segments:
  • AT&T Healthcare Community Online – deploy enhancements to our flagship healthcare solution, which is a highly-secure, cloud-based health information exchange and collaboration portal that improves real-time access to a patient's health records and relevant applications so that physicians and medical staff can provide faster and more accurate diagnosis at the point of care.

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. 

*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.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse(SM) and AT&T |DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. In 2010, AT&T again ranked among the 50 Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE® magazine. 

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.