AT&T invests in Baltimore-area infrastructure and state-wide to enhance customer experience

AT&T recently announced it has invested nearly $650M in Maryland from 2010 through 2012, including nearly $425M in Baltimore area, to enhance speeds, reliability and performance for customers.

“We know our customers depend on us for fast, reliable mobile Internet connections at home, work and everywhere in between,” said Rob Forsyth, AT&T vice president and general manager for the greater Washington/Baltimore area. “Delivering for our Maryland customers is a top priority and our ongoing investment here is designed to deliver a superior mobile Internet experience, encompassing speed, coverage and reliability.”

AT&T has made nearly 775 wireless network upgrades statewide and more than 350 upgrades in Baltimore. Upgrades were in six key categories:

• activating new cell sites
• adding capacity
• upgrading cell sites to provide fast 4G LTE mobile Internet speeds
• deploying high-capacity Ethernet connections to cell sites
• adding or upgrading Distributed Antenna Systems, which boost wireless coverage and capacity in buildings and at major venues like convention halls or sports arenas.

The AT&T wireless network recently ranked No. 1 in Baltimore by RootMetrics®, an independent research and testing organization. AT&T was named the RootMetrics RootScore® Combined Award winner for its combination of call quality, text performance, and mobile Internet speed. The RootMetrics award is the result of more than 24,000 wireless test calls, texts and mobile Internet transmissions conducted during December 2012.

In addition, the AT&T network kept 99 percent of all Baltimore-area wireless calls connected from October through December 2012.

"Across the Baltimore area, this robust investment in the AT&T wireless and wireline networks is important to spurring the economy and creating jobs. In our wireless world, mobile and broadband networks create economic opportunities for health care, manufacturing, education, transportation and public safety and virtually every other economic sector,” said J. Michael Schweder, President, AT&T Mid-Atlantic.