AT&T Invests More Than $700 Million Over 3-Year Period to Boost Local Networks in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Aug. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- At AT&T¹, we've invested more than $700 million in our Kentucky wireless and wired networks during 2015-2017. These investments boost reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. They also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders.

In 2017, AT&T made more than 1100 wireless network upgrades in Kentucky. Notable network enhancements included 15 new cell sites across the Commonwealth and 8 new Distributed Antenna Systems in Anderson, Daviess, Fayette, Franklin, Henderson, Jefferson and Scott Counties.

These upgrades included boosting network capacity and expanding LTE coverage.

"It is encouraging to see investment in the Commonwealth following the pursuit of pro-business policies in the general assembly," said Kentucky House Speaker Pro Tempore David Osborne. "As Kentuckians change how they communicate, it is vital that we continue to pursue policies that promote private investments in our networks to ensure our families and businesses have access to the technologies required in our 21^st century economy."

"Every day we hear of new communications technologies emerging, and many of those innovative products rely on easy access to high-speed Internet," said Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers. "That is why this continuing effort by private industry to invest in Kentucky's communications network is so important for businesses and families throughout the Commonwealth."

"Access to fast communications infrastructure is a key ingredient of business growth, education, and workforce development," said Dave Adkisson, president, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. "We are thankful for the increased investment and connectivity and look to our policy makers to continue to be a driving force for the spread of top performing internet access to all of Kentucky's schools, businesses, and families."

The AT&T LTE network now covers more than 400 million people in North America. By building out our 4G LTE network, we're laying the foundation for 5G, the next advance in network technologies. We're boosting network speeds and capacity, as we continue to expand the availability of our network using the latest technology.

"We're now speeding our wireless build out plans in Kentucky with millions of dollars dedicated to improving its mobile network," said Hood Harris, president of AT&T Kentucky. "This investment will also pave the path to 5G mobile services in the years ahead."

Since the formation of the FirstNet public-private partnership a little over a year ago, governors from all 50 states, 5 territories and D.C. recognized the value of FirstNet, joining in its mission to strengthen and modernize public safety's communications capabilities.

FirstNet is a new nationwide communications platform dedicated to America's public safety community. As we build, deploy and evolve FirstNet, we will build upon our current and planned investments in Kentucky to help ensure public safety's network delivers the coverage and cutting-edge capabilities first responders expect ? today and for decades to come.

For the 4^th year in a row, AT&T earned the top spot in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE's Most Admired Companies list in 2018. We also placed No. 49 among the 50 most admired companies across all industries.

We were ranked first or second in all 9 attributes used to compile the list, including innovation, people management, quality of management, long-term investment value, quality of products/services and global competitiveness.

Our internet offerings
We continue to expand the scope of our ultra-fast internet powered by AT&T Fiber. We now market our ultra-fast internet service powered by AT&T Fiber more than 150,000 customer locations in the Kentucky area.

We have the largest fiber network within our 21-state wireline footprint.² And AT&T is the largest U.S.-based provider of fiber for business services, creating an unparalleled ability to serve businesses of all sizes.

We also now market a 1 gigabit connection³ on our 100% fiber network to 9 million locations across 71 major metro areas nationwide.  We plan to reach at least 14 million locations across at least 84 metro areas by mid-2019 for consumers.

To learn more about our coverage in Kentucky, 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.

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 Based on publicly available data for the top fiber providers in the AT&T operating footprint.
³ Actual customer speeds may vary. Download speeds are typically up to 940Mbps due to overhead capacity reserved to deliver the data.

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, business, mobile and high speed internet services. We have the nation's largest and most reliable network** and the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider. We're one of the world's largest providers of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. More than 3 million companies, from small to large businesses around the globe, turn to AT&T for our highly secure smart solutions. 

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

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**Coverage not avail. everywhere. Based on overall coverage in U.S. licensed/roaming areas. Reliability based on voice and data performance from independent 3^rd party data.

From FORTUNE Magazine. 2018 Time Inc. FORTUNE© and The World's Most Admired Companies® are registered trademarks of Time Inc. and are used under License. FORTUNE and Time Inc. are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, AT&T.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.