AT&T has put more than $400 million into upgrades of its Phoenix-area mobile network, the lion's share of what it invested across the state during the past three years.
The Dallas-based telecom giant said Tuesday it had continued to expand its Phoenix and Arizona networks even as mobile operators look at 5G operations throughout the country.
AT&T put in more than 200 upgrades around the Valley to boost coverage and prove capacity for its LTE network. The company spent $550 million Arizona overall to boost its network, with $50 million coming in Tucson.
Toni Broberg, director of external affairs for AT&T Arizona, said in a statement the increased investment is helping to prepare the state for the eventuality of 5G development.
"Arizona has enacted legislation that encourages companies to invest more in wireless infrastructure. We're now speeding our wireless build-out plans in Arizona with tens of millions of dollars dedicated to improving its mobile network," Broberg said.
The evolution to 5G by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and other carriers will provide mobile customers a bump in speeds for smartphones. The technology comes with speeds up to 100 megabits per second download speeds. LTE, the current standard, features between 5 and 12 megabits per second.
While wireless connections are improving, they are still not quite at the capacity of wired connections but are becoming more enticing to business users.
Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/08/07/att-puts-400-million-into-valley-mobile.html
