AT&T said it plans to build more than 80 new cell sites in Illinois this year and will also upgrade almost 300 cell sites to its third-generation, or 3G, wireless network.
The company declined to provide a 2010 investment figure for Illinois, saying it does not disclose those numbers on a state level. AT&T said it’s planning to invest $18 to $19 billion companywide this year in its wireline and wireless networks, representing an increase of between 5 and 10 percent over 2009 investment.
The company said it’s invested nearly $3.6 billion in its wireline and wireless networks in Illinois between 2007 and 2009, including $975 million for wireless technology.
AT&T added 70 new cell sites in Illinois and upgraded more than 220 existing sites to 3G in 2009, the company said. The upgrades are necessary to handle the growing number of consumers with smartphones, which are designed for data-intensive activities such as browsing the Web and streaming video.
Meanwhile, AT&T also reiterated its support for a new law, signed by Gov. Pat Quinn last week, that updates the state’s 25-year-old telecommunications regulations. The carrier was heavily involved in crafting the legislation and moving it forward, saying that the legacy regulations had kept it from allocating more resources to broadband and mobile technology.
“A state’s policy towards investment greatly impacts our decision-making with regard to capital expenditures,” AT&T said. “Now Illinois boasts a law that makes the state more attractive for private sector investment in wireless and broadband networks. Clearly without this law, Illinois would have felt an impact on the amount of investment in those technologies as well as an impact to our workforce.”
How is this news? 80 towers in an entire state is really not that big of a deal. US Cellular is a regional carrier and they probably build close to 80 towers a year in Illinois. This website bows to AT&T anytime they put out a press release announcing their network upgrades which, if you worked in the industry, would realize that they really aren’t doing all that much. So take no solace iphone users, your calls will still drop and your data will still crawl.
Are any of them in the Chicago suburbs? I am sick of losing calls or never getting them cause the service is so poor out in Mokena – Orland – New Lenox
AT&T can make all the excuses they want, but none of it justifies some simple, painful realities: cellular call reliability is still problematic, U-Verse is second-rate technology compared to fiber-to-the-home efforts like Verizon’s FiOS, their customer service trails the industry, and they use early termination fees and exclusivity agreements like what they have in place with Apple to ram-rod customer-hostile policies down their customer’s throats.
“Duh” (perfect screen name for you): Eighty NEW towers is a lot; what they will bring — along with the 300 upgrades — to subscribers is profound. And last I checked, $18-$19 billion nationally in upgrades is no drop in the bucket (BP is forced to pay $20B for the calamity it has caused.) As a satisfied AT&T customer I am very pleased to see this happening, as I’m sure those in remote areas getting these new products and enhancements are as well. As for Jon “no “h” O’Brien’s comment, U-Verse blows away FIOS! I had Dish for several years, and I now love U-Verse, which has gotten stellar marks from analysts.
I would like to see a map of where these towers will be built. There are rural pockets of Illinois with no AT&T service, but service is available from other carriers.
How about downtown Oak Park ? It’s a dead-zone for AT&T service.
I second Dave’s comment about the Oak Park area. It has always had bad cell service with AT&T even when you just sit at your home without moving. That would be a big step forward.
I’ve worked in the wireless industry for more than a decade, supporting many roll outs like this in the process. I don’t work for AT&T, but I am a subscriber. I’m not here to defend them, just adding professional perspective.
70 new SITES means 70 new towers which is fairly significant, especially in a well established network. New towers are best way to REALLY improved signal coverage and quality. That’s in addition to the 220 sites they plan to upgrade which should improve capacity or make 3G coverage available in new areas.
It’s about time. Amazingly, NW suburbs are currently not part of the 97% coverage area that AT&T claims they provide service to in the United States. Current coverage is so bad, its criminal. Save yourself the grief and aggravation and go with Verizon or Sprint. I would not trust AT&T to do anything that they promise to do.