Community Corner

AT&T Adds More Capacity of Mobile Growth

Communications giant upgrades Brandon cell sites.

AT&T ADDS MORE CAPACITY TO TAMPA NETWORK FOR MOBILE BROADBAND GROWTH; ACTIVATES TWO NEW CELL SITES
Additional Spectrum on More Than 60 Cell Sites to Improve Connectivity and Performance of Mobile Broadband Voice and Data Applications
TAMPA — In its ongoing efforts to bolster the performance of its mobile broadband network in the Tampa area, AT&T* has announced it has added extra capacity to more than 60 cell sites and activated two new sites. Customers are expected to experience improved mobile broadband and voice performance as a result of the upgrades in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties.
The capacity network upgrade added new layers of frequency, also known as “carriers,” to support more voice and data traffic on the cell sites. The expansion helps manage ever-growing demand for mobile broadband services by allocating more network resources for AT&T’s mobile broadband network. Adding extra capacity to a cell site is like widening a highway – you’re creating more lanes to accommodate increasing traffic.
The areas benefitting from the additional mobile broadband capacity include Hudson, Spring Hill, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills in Pasco County; Apollo Beach, Tampa, Wimauma, Brandon, Riverview, and Valrico in Hillsborough County; Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Safety Harbor in Pinellas County; and Crystal River and Inverness in Citrus County.
Two new cell sites in Hernando and Hillsborough counties are improving coverage around the intersection of Northcliffe and Mariner boulevards in Spring Hill, and at the mall on West Shore Boulevard in Tampa.
“Our goal is for our customers to have an extraordinary experience. As part of the Tampa community, we’re always looking for new opportunities to provide a better customer experience, and our investment in the local wireless network is just one way we’re accomplishing that,” said Marshall Criser, lll, AT&T Florida president. “In addition, our recently announced agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA will strengthen and expand our network in Tampa. If approved, this deal means that we’ll be able to expand the next generation of mobile broadband – 4G LTE – from our current plan of 80 percent of the U.S. population to 95 percent.”
“High-tech expansions like this one help our business community, our local economy and our overall quality of life and creates jobs at all levels,” said Keith Norden, president and CEO of Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation. “Few businesses today are more competitive than the wireless industry. That level of competition results in investment and new technology, which delivers benefits to the entire community.”
AT&T’s mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T has the best international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, providing access to voice service in more than 220 countries and data service in more than 200 countries.
AT&T also operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network** with more than 24,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to more than 125,000 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 data plans.
For more information about AT&T’s coverage in the Tampa area or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer.
For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here