T AT&T Inc

MODESTO, Calif., May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At AT&T¹, we've invested nearly $60 million in our Modesto wireless and wired networks during 2014-2016. These investments enhance reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. They also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders.

Throughout the Northern California region, AT&T completed 1,459 LTE capacity upgrades, 45 LTE overlays, and 23 new cell sites in 2016, boosting network capacity and new wireless high-speed internet connections. The AT&T LTE network covers nearly 400 million people in North America.

"We know that Californians demand a world-class communications network, and we're committed to maintaining and growing our wired and wireless networks to provide our customers with the fast, reliable, highly secure connectivity they expect, in every corner of the state," said Ken McNeely, president of AT&T California. "We're proud that our continued investment across California is driving innovation and opening up new possibilities for consumers and entrepreneurs."

"AT&T's continued investment in our community, especially their launch of fiber internet in Modesto, is helping improve our local economy," said Cecil Russell, CEO of the Modesto Chamber of Commerce. "Businesses across the valley depend on connectivity to grow and compete in today's increasingly mobile and data-driven marketplace. We're extremely pleased AT&T is investing so heavily in our ability to connect anytime, anywhere."

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) recently chose AT&T to build a nationwide public safety broadband network. The network will be dedicated to America's police, firefighters and EMS personnel. Should California opt-in to the FirstNet network, we will build upon our current and planned investments with a dedicated focus on the state's first responders.

And we would expect to make a significant investment to upgrade and maintain California's FirstNet network over the next 25 years, bringing first responders the coverage, value and experience they expect.

For the third year in a row, FORTUNE magazine recognized AT&T as the Most Admired Telecommunications Company in the world in 2017. We also placed No. 37 among the Top 50 World's Most Admired companies.

AT&T is the only communications company on the list. We ranked No. 1 in all 9 attributes. This included innovation, financial soundness and quality of products/services.

We continue to expand the scope of our ultra-fast internet powered by AT&T Fiber. Since we announced plans for the service 4 years ago, no single provider has connected more homes, apartments and small businesses over a 100% fiber network.

We have the largest fiber network within our 21-state wireline footprint.² We also now market a 1 gigabit connection³ on our 100% fiber connection to communities in many of the areas of California we serve, including parts of Modesto. We now market our ultra-fast internet service powered by AT&T Fiber to more than 550,000 customer locations in more than 60 California communities.

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 national Wi-Fi network⁴ at no added cost. Wi-Fi usage doesn't count towards customers' monthly wireless data plans.

To learn more about our coverage in Modesto 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, business, mobile and high speed internet services. We offer the nation's best data 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. Nearly 3.5 million companies, from small to large businesses around the globe, turn to AT&T for our highly secure smart solutions. 

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 YouTube at youtube.com/att.

© 2017 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.

*Claim based on the Nielsen Certified Data Network Score. Score includes data reported by wireless consumers in the Nielsen Mobile Insights survey, network measurements from Nielsen Mobile Performance and Nielsen Drive Test Benchmarks for Q3+Q4 2016 across 121 markets.

**Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; and voice roaming 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 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.
⁴ Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for details and locations.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-invests-nearly-60-million-over-3-year-period-to-enhance-local-networks-in-modesto-area-300460490.html

SOURCE AT&T