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Mar. 12, 2009

AT&T Wireless announces that it plans to invest about $18 billion this year, with 68 percent of that going into its mobile and wired broadband networks.

In November, AT&T said it planned to lay off approximately four percent of its workforce, mainly in wireline.

Nevertheless, the telecom giant still expects to cut those jobs, but also added that it will create nearly 3,000 new jobs in 2009 to support the growing demand in areas such as mobility, broadband and video.

AT&T's wireless plans piggybacks with wired broadband initiatives. The wireless carrier said its capital spending this year is in line with its 2008 numbers of $17.7 billion.

Plans for 2009 include adding more than 2,100 new mobile towers across the U.S., and expanding 3G service to about twenty new markets this year.

AT&T also expects customer trials will lead to greater availability of its 3G MicroCell femtocell offering for boosting in-building coverage, and it will continue to expand its Wi-Fi footprint in many U.S. states.

The company's investment plans this year is a positive sign for the industry, Strategy Analytics points out. The U.S. broadband market, which lags the developed world in terms of penetration, average speed, availability and price, has a limited window to catch up, Strategy Analytics says.

At Mobile World Congress in February, Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer Dick Lynch reiterated his company spent about $17 billion for capital expenditures last year.

Lynch added that LTE network costs will be within the company’s overall program as spending shifts from older technologies to new initiatives like LTE. He also said expansion of the FiOS fiber network is consistent with the LTE rollout.

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Source: AT&T Wireless.