More Than 600 AT&T Cell Sites Upgraded Year-to-Date to Provide Advanced Mobile Broadband Experience for South Florida Customers

MIAMI, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* customers in South Florida are expected to experience improved mobile broadband coverage and voice performance as a result of continued investment by AT&T. The company announced today network improvements made year-to-date to enhance the wireless capacity and performance of its local mobile broadband network.

Since the start of 2011, AT&T has made the following improvements in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties:

• Deployed enhanced backhaul connections to more than 340 cell sites. Combined with HSPA+ technology, these backhaul deployments enable 4G speeds.
• Added more than 320 spectrum carriers or an extra layer of frequency (capacity) to more than 265 cell sites to support more traffic.
  • Miami-Dade County – Added more than 150 carriers of additional mobile broadband capacity to cell sites in the areas of Miami, South Miami, North Miami, Miami Beach, South Beach, North Miami Beach, Opa-Locka, Miami Lakes, Doral, Kendall, Hialeah, Homestead, Kendale Lakes, Coral Gables, Cutler Ridge, Fisher Island, Key Biscayne, Miami Gardens, Hialeah Gardens, Medley, North Bay Village, and Miami Shores.
  • Broward County – Added more than 80 carriers of additional mobile broadband capacity to cell sites in the areas of Fort Lauderdale, Davie, Miramar, Sunrise, Oakland Park, Deerfield Beach, Plantation, Parkland, Dania Beach, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, and Lauderdale Lakes.
  • Palm Beach County – Added more than 85 carriers of additional mobile broadband capacity to cell sites in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Lantana, Greenacres, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, The Acreage, Pahokee, Belle Glade, Riviera Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, Jupiter, and Tequesta.
• Installed six new cell sites to improve network coverage.
  • Miami-Dade County – New coverage around Flagler Street and SR 826/836 exchange in Miami, and in southwest Kendall near the intersection of S.W. 137th Avenue and S.W. 120th Drive.
  • Broward County – New coverage in Miramar near the intersection of Miramar Parkway and S.W. 172nd Avenue and at the Broward/Miami-Dade County line near the Florida Turnpike
  • Palm Beach County – New coverage in Boynton Beach in the areas surrounding the southeast corner of Gateway Boulevard and Congress Avenue, and in west Boca Raton near the intersection of Palmetto Park Road and Judge Winikoff Road

"More than ever before, customers look to wireless communications to stay in touch with family, friends and business colleagues," said Carlos Blanco, vice president and general manager, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets for South Florida. "We're working to make this possible by investing in new wireless coverage in South Florida. In addition, our recently announced agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand our network. If approved, this deal means that we'll be able to expand the next generation of mobile broadband – 4G LTE – from our current plan of 80 percent of the U.S. population to more than 97 percent."

AT&T invested more than $425 million in its Florida wireless and wireline networks in the first half of 2011.

"Our goal is to deliver a network experience that mobilizes everything for customers," said Marshall Criser, III, AT&T Florida president. "The ongoing investment we're making in Florida is designed to increase coverage, reliability and offers advanced services for our customers so they can do more with their wireless devices."

AT&T plans to support the build or upgrade of thousands of cell sites nationwide to increase network speed, coverage and reliability for both mobile voice and broadband services. AT&T also plans to install additional radio "carriers" at thousands of cell sites nationally this year, enabling new layers of spectrum capacity to carry larger volumes of mobile broadband traffic. Additional capacity helps support rising mobile data traffic volumes, which have increased more than 8,000 percent over the past four years.

For more information about AT&T's coverage in South Florida or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. Using the online tool, AT&T customers can measure quality of coverage from a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.

For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.  

*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 mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T |DIRECTV 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.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might 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 and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.