NEW ORLEANS/PRNewswire/ ----- EDITORIAL OPINION FROM AT&T LOUISIANA PRESIDENT SONIA PEREZ
The proposed AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA has the potential to benefit communities acrossLouisiana. The approval of this merger would allow us to improve service and provide greater access to next-generation high-speed mobile broadband for more people throughout our great state.
AT&T has helped lead the United States' mobile broadband revolution. During the past four years, mobile data traffic on our national network increased 8,000 percent. That's just the beginning. We estimate that in the first five to seven weeks of 2015, we will carry the same amount of mobile data traffic that wecarried in all of 2010, as customers continue to mobilize everything with tablets, mobile video, mobile computing, the cloud and more.
This is a classic case of supply and demand as consumer demand for mobile broadband is expected to outpace the supply of network capacity. To meet this ever-increasing demand from consumers, we have to find ways to create greater capacity on our network, and that's exactly what the AT&T and T-Mobile combination will do.
Because of the scale, spectrum and other resources that will result from the merger, AT&T will significantly expand its deployment of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband service, the gold standard of advanced mobile broadband. The merger will enable AT&T to reach more than 98 percent of the Louisiana population with 4G LTE service ? that is more than 1.1 million additional people and more than 28,000 square miles covered by LTE in Louisiana than under AT&T's pre-merger plans.
What will this mean for consumers? It will help AT&T improve network quality for customers of the combined company, which will mean better voice quality, better coverage, fewer dropped calls and faster data speeds.
The merger will benefit the entire state, but perhaps the greatest benefit will be in the smaller towns and communities. By bringing 4G LTE to more of Louisiana's rural areas, we can offer businesses in these smaller towns the same powerful technology enjoyed by those located in major cities and more densely populated areas. By connecting local businesses to the global marketplace, we can grow our economy and create jobs right here in Louisiana. Rural consumers with access to 4G LTE will benefit from greater access to a wide range of resources that would not otherwise be available without access to 4G LTE. Access to the next-generation mobile broadband network holds the potential to revolutionize telemedicine, such as doctors having one-on-one access to patients in remote areas without requiring patients to travel for an in-office consultation. Children will have more opportunities to learn through online education programs and the many resources available with expanded high-speed Internet access.
Our state stands to benefit greatly from the combined resources of AT&T and T-Mobile.
Sonia Perez is the president of AT&T Louisiana
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates ? AT&T operating companies ? are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T |DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.
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SOURCE AT&T Inc.