Surry Business

AT&T (NYSE: T), the nation’s largest wireless carrier, will invest more than $78 million in its North Carolina wireless network in 2007. The company’s plans include adding new cell sites and expanding coverage in Surry County along I-77 near Elkin and along U.S. 52 northward from Winston-Salem.

This will bring AT&T’s three-year investment in North Carolina to more than $530 million, the company announced in Charlotte. In 2006, it built 110 new cell sites and deployed 3G (third-generation) wireless services in the Triad, Triangle and Charlotte regions.

“We are accelerating the changes that our customers see and experience in North Carolina, and that’s as exciting for the company as it is for customers and employees,” said Alison Hall, AT&T’s vice president/general manager for wireless operations in the Carolinas.

“We are enthusiastic about the opportunities to invest here and to bring advanced services to our customers,” said Cynthia Marshall, president, AT&T North Carolina. “North Carolina’s leaders have long been committed to a public policy climate that encourages investment. A good example is the legislation passed last month by the General Assembly. That legislation streamlines the process for locating wireless facilities and enables us to put this investment to work faster for consumers.”Hall said AT&T is committed to delivering a new era of communications, where customers will seamlessly access information anytime, anywhere and from any device.

“Through our ability to combine wireless and wireline networks, AT&T is accelerating the convergence of new voice, data and video services that will lead the industry’s shift to next-generation, IP-based technologies,” Hall said. “IP is the new foundation of our business and enables us to give consumers and businesses what they are demanding — 24/7 access to any content or application on any device, wired or wireless.”

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