AT&T Inc. aims to cover 70 million to 75 million people with its next-generation wireless network by the end of 2011, the carrier’s network chief said Thursday.
The carrier is testing the technology — known as LTE — in Dallas and Baltimore and expects to be able to launch commercially by the middle of next year, said John Stankey, who heads AT&T’s Business Solutions unit and oversees its networks.
“We’re not sitting on the sideline,” he said. “We’re actively working. We’re actively evaluating the technology. We’re actively working with our vendor base.”
So-called fourth-generation wireless networks promise much faster speeds for moving video and other data-heavy services. Sprint Nextel Corp. already has access to a 4G network via Clearwire Corp., which intends to cover 120 million people by the end of the year.
Verizon Wireless, the country’s biggest wireless carrier by subscribers, is rolling out its own network.
The Wall Street Journal
