AUSTIN, Texas, June 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of AT&T1's ongoing efforts to provide an outstanding experience for customers, the company made wireless and wired network investments of more than $550 million in Austin between 2013-2015.

These investments enhance reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for Austin residents, visitors and businesses. They also bolster critical services that support public safety and first responders. Wireless network upgrades, new cell sites and high-speed internet are among the many investments the company made in 2015 to keep Austinites connected at home or on the go.  

"We're committed to providing our Austin customers fast, reliable, highly secure connectivity. We want them to access the Internet at any moment, from almost any device and from anywhere," said Leslie Ward, vice president of legislative affairs, AT&T. "Our continued investment in Austin brings a host of new, innovative opportunities for residents and businesses."

"Austin has a strong, vibrant economy and is a recognized leader in tech," said Texas State Senator Kirk Watson. "Strong investment in our communications infrastructure is key to our continued growth in all areas. I appreciate AT&T's commitment to this community as they continue to invest in a fast, reliable network to ensure our businesses and residents have access to the tools and technologies needed in today's fast-paced world and economy."

The AT&T LTE network covers 365 million people in North America. Key network upgrades in Austin in 2015 include:

  • The addition of Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) to increase mobile broadband and Wi-Fi services. New DAS installations increase coverage and capacity in areas traditional network deployments may not be feasible.
  • A number of LTE enhancements, enhancing capacity at local campus and sports facilities.
  • An expanded HD Voice network, which enables crystal clear conversations while surfing the web at 4G LTE speeds.
  • An expansion of the AT&T GigaPower network to homes and businesses across the city. GigaPower is currently available in homes, small businesses and more than 100 Austin area apartment buildings.

AT&T also made a number of temporary network upgrades in Austin to ensure fast, reliable connections at popular Austin music festivals and sporting events, which often spur spikes in data usage with social posts and streaming video. These network upgrades include deploying temporary cell sites, known as "Cell on Wheels" or "COWs" in high traffic locations. COWs feature some of the highest capacity antennas in our fleet – including the Giant Eyeball Antenna (also known as the Luneburg Lens Antenna).

We offer Internet customers a great combination of speed and price. AT&T high-speed Internet2 customers have access to our entire national AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spot Network at no additional charge3.  We also offer our award-winning DIRECTV® service to eligible locations.  Customers may be eligible for AT&T U-verse TV service, a 100% digital service available over our advanced network. In 2015, Woman's Choice Awards® named AT&T U-verse "America's Most Recommended Brand among women for Broadband, Television and Phone Service."

AT&T GigaPower offers our fastest Internet speeds, up to 1Gbps4 over a 100% fiber network. Since its launch in Austin in 2013, GigaPower now reaches more than 1.6 million locations across 25 major metro areas. We've announced plans to expand the availability of Internet speeds up to 1Gbps to homes, apartments and small businesses in parts of 31 additional cities across the U.S. – which will total at least 56 metros served.

AT&T plans to continue rolling out our fastest Internet services over a 100% fiber network to reach more than 14 million additional residential and commercial locations.

We have big plans for 2016. We'll be giving you the ability to access and stream DIRECTV video services over a wired or wireless Internet connection from any provider and from virtually any device – smartphone, tablet, Smart TV, streaming media hardware or PC.  We plan for each service to come with a set number of simultaneous sessions. These services will not require annual contracts, satellite dishes or set-top boxes.

We have an extensive Wi-Fi network with more than 40,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores and retailers. And we provide access to Wi-Fi at more 1 million locations around the world. Most AT&T smartphone customers and home Internet customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost. Wi-Fi usage doesn't count towards customers' monthly wireless data plans5.

To learn more about our coverage in Austin or anywhere in the U.S., visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements 
Information set forth in this news release contains financial estimates and other forward- looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may 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 or revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.

About AT&T 
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high speed Internet and voice services. We're the world's largest provider of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. We offer the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider. * And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with our mobility and highly secure cloud solutions.

Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

© 2016 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

*Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; voice roaming; and world-capable smartphone and tablets in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier. International service required.  Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.

To define a market, we rely on the Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), as established by the United States Office of Management and Budget.  Minor differences, if any, between annual totals reflect annual updating of market boundaries in our record systems.

1 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. 
2 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. 
3 Access includes AT&T Wi-Fi Basic.  Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for details and locations. 
4 Internet speed claims represent maximum network service capability speeds. Actual customer speeds may vary based on factors including site traffic, content provider server capacity, internal network management factors, and device capabilities and are not guaranteed. For more information, go to att.com/speed101. 
5 A Wi-Fi enabled device required.  Other restrictions apply.  See attwifi.com for details and locations.

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.

Copyright 2016 PR Newswire

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