AT&T has just announced it will launch its initial LTE service in five markets:Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas. John Stankey, President and CEO, AT&T Business Solutions (who’s speaking at our Structure 2011 conference) made the announcement during his talk at the Barclays Capital Global Communications, Media and Technology Conference.
In addition, Stankey said AT&T has plans to roll out LTE in 10 additional markets by the end of the year — an addressable market of 70 million. AT&T Chief Technology Officer By John Donovan in a blog post noted:
AT&T has delivered five mobile broadband speed upgrades in recent years, including our HSPA+ deployment last year. And average nationwide speeds on the AT&T network have increased — more than 40 percent over the past two years alone.
The next network evolution will arrive this summer with the addition of LTE in five markets – Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio. We plan to add another 10 or more markets in the second half of the year, and cover 70 million Americans with LTE by year-end. We also have plans to add 20 4G devices to our robust device portfolio this year, with some of those being LTE capable.
Stacey Higginbotham recently visited with AT&T and got a hands-on demo of Ma Bell’s LTE network that delivered speeds of almost 30 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. AT&T is in the process of trying to buy T-Mobile USA in an effort to consolidate its position and add to its spectrum arsenal. The merger is being viewed unfavorably by consumer advocates and has become a symbol of FCC’s ineffectiveness.


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