AT&T Invests More Than $50 Million in Minnesota Wireless and Wireline Networks in First Half of 2013

Blazing speeds.  Great reliability.  Broad coverage.  Excellent overall performance.  That’s what Minnesota residents want from their mobile Internet, and it’s exactly what AT&T* is delivering with an array of network upgrades completed in the first half of 2013.

In the first half of 2013, AT&T invested more than $50 million in its wireless and wired networks in Minnesota.  The investments included deployment of new macro cell sites, small cells and Distributed Antenna Systems across the state as a part of AT&T’s Project Velocity IP, a three-year investment plan announced last fall to expand and enhance its IP broadband networks.  The company also expanded and enhanced its 4G LTE network, which provides ultra-fast mobile Internet speeds, and deployed new Wi-Fi hot spots.

These investments help to ensure that Minnesota residents continue to receive the best possible experience over the AT&T network, whether at home, at work or on the go.  The great performance of AT&T’s 4G LTE network, now the nation’s fastest and most reliable, continues to be validated:

• AT&T now has the most reliable 4G LTE network.  According to independent third-party data, AT&T has the highest success rate for delivering mobile content across nationwide 4G LTE networks.**
• Meanwhile, our 4G LTE service was recognized as having faster average download and upload speeds than any of our competitors in PCWorld/TechHive’s most recent 20-market speed tests – the second consecutive year that AT&T has ranked 1st overall.  PCWorld/TechHive also ranked AT&T’s as the fastest combination of 3G and 4G services in the 20 cities it tested.***
• And AT&T was named America’s fastest 4G LTE network in PC Magazine’s 2013 Fastest Mobile Networks 30-market study – sweeping the top rankings in all six U.S. regions from coast to coast: Northeast, Southeast, North-Central, South-Central, Northwest and Southwest.****

“Fast, reliable connectivity is essential to both quality of life and competitiveness at work,” said Paul Weirtz, president, AT&T Minnesota  “No one understands that better than we do, and no one is doing more than AT&T to mobilize a world that works for people in Minnesota.  With initiatives like Project Velocity IP, we’re working to ensure that Minnesota consumers and businesses remain at the leading edge of broadband services.”

Highlights of network upgrades completed so far this year in Minnesota include the introduction of 32 new 4G LTE sites, and the construction of 16 new wireless sites.

“AT&T’s network investment supports Minnesota’s economic health and our residents’ ability to succeed at work and at home,” said David Olson, President of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.  “The expansion of mobile Internet service helps to ensure that people across the state have access to the latest online services and applications.”

The 2013 year-to-date network investment builds on the more than $400 million that AT&T has invested in its Minnesota wireless and wired networks from 2010 through 2012.

AT&T 4G LTE is now available in multiple areas of the state, including Minneapolis/St. Paul, Duluth-Superior, Cloquet and the I-35 corridor connecting the Twin Cities and Cloquet, the Brainerd Lakes Area, Grand Rapids and New Ulm, including Redwood and Sibley Counties. Nationwide, more than 225 million Americans have access to AT&T 4G LTE service.  By year-end 2013, AT&T expects to cover nearly 270 million people and 400 markets with its 4G LTE network.

For more information about AT&T’s coverage in Minnesota or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer.  For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.

Geographic and service restrictions apply to AT&T U-verse services. Call or go to www.att.com/u-verse to see if you qualify.