AT&T; to spend $14 billion to boost wireless and broadband network

AT&T; said it will invest $14 billion over the next three years improving and expanding its wireless and broadband infrastructure.

The Texas-based company said $8 billion will be used to improve its wireless network. AT&T; said it plans to expand its 4G LTE high-speed Internet wireless network to cover 300 million people by the end of 2014.

That’s an improvement over the company’s current plan, which would expand the network to cover 250 million people by the end of next year.

The latest plan, which AT&T; calls Project Velocity IP, dedicates the remaining $6 billion to improving the company’s fiber-optic, broadband networks.

AT&T; will expand its high-speed U-Verse TV, Internet and VOIP service to 8.5 million more customer locations by the end of 2015. AT&T; said the investment will boost U-Verse speeds to 75 Mbps, or about three times faster than the fastest service currently offered.

Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, called AT&T;’s investment plans proof that there is a positive climate for investment and innovation in the country’s communications sector.

“Extending wired and wireless broadband across America is the ‘great infrastructure challenge of the 21st century,’” he said in a statement. “America’s 21st century economy and our global leadership depend on meeting this challenge.”

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