Is AT&T changing their network?
AT&T has lately been pushing several notable network upgrades. Among the largest cellular service providers in the United States of America, AT&T Internet has millions of users depending on its network for phone calls, data access, and other services. It does not clarify what modifications they are doing or how those adjustments would affect consumers.
5G Rollout
Of all the AT&T network enhancements, maybe the most well-publicized is their 5G compatibility. Comparatively to the existing 4G, 5G is said to provide substantially better data speeds, reduced latency, and support more connected devices than past generations of mobile networks. Since 2018, AT&T has been spending on the 5G rollout; during the previous several years, it has progressively added more cities and consumers.
Currently, AT&T has adopted both low band and high band for 5G network deployment for both speed and coverage. Their low-band 5G is on 600MHz and 850MHz which are perfect for the coverage of large areas and passing through buildings. High-band millimeter wave spectrum at around 40GHz provides very high speed to the user but their range is not very large. In this way, it is necessary to unite these types of 5G, and AT&T intents to develop the following generations of wireless connection.
The 5G deployment is still in progress, however, AT&T has forecasted that the networks will reach more than 260 million people across the United States by the end of 2022. This will offer the current customer base the advanced network experience and features that are required.
Spectrum Repurposing
Alongside growing its 5G network, AT&T is also reporting some of the 4G LTE bands to improve throughput. For instance, they are refarming bandwidth in areas of their 850Mhz and 1900Mhz spectrum licenses to offer more capacity to 4G LTE.
Since fewer devices connect to the older 2G and 3G networks, releasing parts of the spectrum occupied by those networks allows AT&T to allocate more bandwidth to modern 4G and 5G technologies. It can be used to increase 4G speed and capacity without having to own new spectrum resources. These 4G enhancements will also help them build a robust backbone for their national 5G deployment.
Fiber Network Expansion
New fiber optic internet services provided by AT&T through their fiber network also remain widespread and expanded among the customers. Their fiber optic network offers home and business broadband service and fiber optic-based wireless backhaul for towers.
Increasing and optimizing fiber networks benefits the customer experience of AT&T internet service subscribers and remains a fundamental element that supports new services throughout the AT&T portfolio. More fiber will be useful in fully unlocking 5G mobile and other next-generation networks.
Thus, the AT&T Fiber internet service will be delivered to more than 14 million customer locations by 2021. They remain committed to investing capital towards the expansion of their fiber network even further.
C-Band Spectrum
Similarly, in the early part of 2022, AT&T also made a massive enhancement in the spectrum holding, which acquired the broad C-Band airwaves through the FCC auction for more than $9 billion. When that mid-band spectrum is put into service, it will hugely enhance AT&T’s 5G capacity in delivering higher speed with a broader coverage area than what mmWave can do.
It will still take some time to integrate the new C-Band spectrum with their existing network, the aim is to cover 70-75 million people with C-Band 5G by December 2022. Still, once deployed to the extent possible, consumers across the areas of 5G coverage should experience both, better betterconnection speeds and coverage, due to these valuable frequencies.
Improving the Network Core
While the focus has been on areas such as the 5G radio access network, AT&T is also in the process of improving the back-end parts of the network. This includes the enhancement of the optical transport network, data center design, and the cloud infrastructure that enables everything.
Hence, moving network functions to have a cloud-native environment through their Network Cloud project, increases the flexibility and agility of how service orchestration and delivery are done. Other edge computing capabilities also assist in bringing content and applications closer to the consumer. Such investments establish the groundwork required to capitalize on, the progress of 5G, fiber, and other access networks that are already in the pipeline.
So, What Does This Mean for Customers?
With all these technology projects in parallel, AT&T customers both current and in the future should experience meaningful improvements in speed, performance, and all-round quality of the network. Wireless internet: 5G connectivity will become more widespread, offering incredibly fast wireless data if used with a 5G device. Current 4G LTE speeds should also rise due to intelligent spectrum reuse policies enhancing the networks’ capability.
But even if you’re not using a 5G device yet, you may find yourself experiencing fewer issues with congestion or bottlenecks during peak usage hours as AT&T continues to construct best-in-class facilities such as fiber transport and Network Cloud architecture. Similarly, once the C-Band spectrum is brought in over the next two years, it is expected that the coverage of 5G will expand significantly as well.
Thus, the numerous transformations occurring throughout AT&T’s network, although may seem rather technical and obscure from the customer's perspective, have one overarching objective – to enhance the prospects of the wireless experience. When network boundaries are raised, consumers are provided with even faster data with more freedom concerning where 5G high-speed connectivity is accessible, without considering geographical and time restrictions. New technologies that provide consumers with more power become even more valuable when reliable connectivity can support them. As such, AT&T remains committed to delivering the capable network that will help foster this innovation in the present and the future.
Upgrade to faster, more reliable AT&T Fiber Internet today! Call us at +1 844-905-5002 and get connected with speeds that keep you ahead.