AT&T Invests More Than $1.3 Billion Over 3-Year Period to Boost Local Networks in Michigan

DETROIT, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- At AT&T¹, we've invested more than $1.3 billion in our Michigan 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.

"Our customers expect to have access at any moment, from almost any device ? almost anywhere," said David C. Lewis, president, AT&T Michigan. "And we're investing heavily to deliver faster, more reliable, highly secure connectivity in order to meet - and exceed - those expectations for residents throughout the state."

In 2017, AT&T made nearly 1,000 wireless network upgrades in Michigan. We added new cell sites, additional network capacity, and new wireless high-speed Internet connections. 

"For Michigan to continue to thrive and attract new jobs and innovation, sustained investment by the private sector is crucial," said Jim Byrum, president of the Michigan AgriBusiness Association. "By continuing to build state-of-the-art infrastructure across our state ? both in our urban centers and rural communities, AT&T is making business growth possible and ensuring that our residents have the tools to stay connected and entertained."

The AT&T LTE network now covers more than 400 million people in North America. Notable Michigan network enhancements in 2017 included:

• Distributed antenna upgrades at Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Detroit Metropolitan Airport and GM Renaissance Center
• New site builds in places such as Adrian, Roscommon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor and Grand Blanc
• Capacity upgrades in areas such as Van Buren, Muskegon, East Lansing, Portage, Holland and Colon
• Bandwidth expansions in areas like Sanilac County, Tuscola County, Roosevelt Park, Battle Creek, Auburn Hills and Birmingham

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.

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 Michigan 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 to more than 225,000 customer locations in Michigan.

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 Michigan, 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.

© 2018 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.

**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.