AT&T Mobility details network upgrade plans for the year

Amid complaints about its 3G coverage, an advertising challenge from competitor Verizon Wireless and a last-minute push before the federal government on network neutrality rules, AT&T Mobility detailed investment plans for 2010 for several of its markets.
The nation’s No. 2 carrier, which already said it plans to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in capital expenses this year, said it plans to add 30 cell sites in the New York City metro areas, as well as upgrade another 70 sites to 3G capabilities. In addition, the carrier said it plans to upgrade hundreds of sites in the region to better accommodate backhaul. Interestingly, the carrier hinted at planned government regulations in its press release detailing its plans. “This planned level of investment is framed by the expectation that regulatory and legislative decisions relating to the telecom sector will continue to be sensitive to investment,” AT&T Mobility said.
The Federal Communications Commission has been asking carriers and the investment community about how to bring more innovation, competition and investment to the wireless sector as part of several initiatives, including the National Broadband Plan and net neutrality rules. AT&T Mobility, which has been criticized heavily for coverage problems in New York and San Francisco—two cities with expected high smartphone use — noted it spent nearly $290 million on capital expenses in the New York metro area in 2009.
“Wireless data traffic on the AT&T network has grown more than 5,000 percent over the past three years, largely attributed to today’s advanced smartphones that are generating dramatically increasing volumes of network traffic,” the carrier noted. “In fact, roughly 40 percent of AT&T’s postpaid base uses a smartphone today, representing twice the number of smartphone customers than any other U.S. provider.”
The carrier also has put out a number of individual state news releases in the past month that detail its upgrade plans. Among them:
–Plans to upgrade its Nebraska network by adding almost 20 new cell sites and the upgrading more than 40 sites to 3G
— In Ohio, AT&T plans to add 30 new cell sites and upgrade another 240 sites to 3G.
— Iowa will see another 10 cell sites and 160 upgrades.
— In Louisiana, the carrier plans to add more than 60 cell sites and upgrade another nearly 280 sites to 3G.
–In Wisconsin, AT&T plans to add 30 new sites and upgrade 180 existing sites.
–In Alambama, 75 new cell sites should be added and more than 250 upgraded.
–In Florida, more than 65 new sites and nearly 200 will be upgraded.
–In Minnestora, more than 55 new sites and nearly 300 upgraded.
–In Mississippi, more than 60 new sites and more than 200 upgraded.