AT&T Expands Mobile Internet Coverage Along 130-Mile Stretch of U.S. Highway 50 in Missouri
Local Wireless Network Upgrade Extends Access to Advanced Products, Services and Applications
Warrensburg, Missouri, March 12, 2012
AT&T* today announced the expansion of its mobile broadband network along a roughly 130-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 50 in Missouri, helping provide communities with improved access to advanced mobile services, devices and feature-rich audio and video content.
Recent upgrades of cell sites are expected to improve mobile Internet access for both local residents and travelers along the Highway 50 corridor, which along some stretches serves more than 15,000 vehicles on an average day. Improved service should be noticed in areas including about 130 miles east from Kansas City through Lee’s Summit, Warrensburg, Sedalia and on to Jefferson City.
AT&T is an industry pioneer in delivering the benefits of mobile Internet networks, devices and applications. With the nation’s fastest mobile Internet network, AT&T provides accelerated mobile data speeds and simultaneous voice and data capabilities for an amazing wireless voice and data experience.
“AT&T’s mobile Internet network provides several important advantages for customers, including the ability to talk and surf at the same time,” said Nancy Garvey, AT&T’s vice president and general manager for the Greater Midwest Region. “Now customers in this part of the state will have better mobile Internet access and more reliable service.”
Improved mobile Internet service comes as welcome news for Warrensburg businesses.
“AT&T’s investment in cutting-edge mobile broadband technology can only enhance the connections we need between rural parts of Missouri and the rest of the global economy,” said Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce President Tamara Long. “Mobile broadband has become an important tool for businesses, farmers, healthcare providers, educators and consumers.”
“AT&T’s announcement is tremendous news for communities in this part of Missouri,” said Missouri State Representative Denny Hoskins. “This upgrade to mobile broadband will help encourage job creation and economic development, while also providing our families and businesses with more choices for service.”
AT&T has invested more than $2.3 billion in its wireless and wireline networks in Missouri from 2008 through 2011. During 2011 alone, AT&T made nearly 1,825 wireless network upgrades in four key categories in Missouri. These enhancements included:
- Activating more than 20 new cell sites or towers to improve network coverage.
- Upgrading nearly 300 cell sites to provide fast mobile broadband speeds.
- Deploying faster fiber-optic connections to more than 625 cell sites. Combined with HSPA+ technology, these deployments enable 4G speeds**.
- Adding capacity or an extra layer of frequency to cell sites – like adding lanes to a highway – with the addition of more than 875 of these layers, or “carriers.”
“We’re always looking for new opportunities to provide enhanced service as a way to help drive the local economy in communities across the entire state of Missouri,” said John Sondag, president of AT&T Missouri. “Today, it’s not enough to have access to highway infrastructure. You also need access to the information highway. This is only possible through the efforts of elected officials such as Missouri senators Mike Kehoe and Bill Stouffer, and Missouri representative Denny Hoskins, whose support for pro-business policies helped makes possible announcements such as this.”
Customers can try out the latest line-up of smartphones, Internet solutions and more at AT&T stores in Lee’s Summit, Warrensburg, Sedalia and Jefferson City.
AT&T also operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network*** with nearly 30,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to nearly 190,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn’t count against customers’ monthly wireless data plans.
For more information about AT&T’s coverage in Missouri or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. Using the online tool, AT&T customers can measure coverage quality from a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.
For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.
