The telecom giant seeks further connectivity by focusing on key areas and interactions.
AT&T’s strategy for 2021 and onward is to invest in expanding the network, and associated technologies, in the key areas of sports, venues, entertainment, travel, transportation, business transformation, security and public safety.
The company’s current 5G network covers over 230 million Americans in 14,000 cities, towns and municipalities, 38 of which now have access to the 5G+ broadband framework. This 5G reach is a result of over $105 billion in investments and acquisitions of signal spectrum frequencies and wireless operations. According to AT&T, these investments are the largest of their kind by a public company in the U.S. over the past 5 years.
The communication company recently secured 80 MHz of C-band signal spectrum, and 29 percent of the available licences during the FCC Spectrum Auction. The company expects to deploy the first 40 MHz of this spectrum by the end of this year. Having already spent over $27 billion on the C-band spectrum, AT&T has serious plans for network expansion and proliferation over the coming years.
The telecom giant will use these mid-band signals to supplement and further furnish the existing 5G low-band network to provide faster and more consistent average user speeds across the U.S. This expanded spectrum will provide additional coverage, reliability, security and speed to deliver the experiences that customers expect and value across all of the company’s mobility and Internet service offerings.
AT&T’s 5G Entertainment Strategy
The AT&T Stadium in Dallas was the first venue in the world to provide a 5G stadium experience. By using its extensive infrastructure capabilities, the company was able to more deeply connect fans to the action by providing a seamless innovative and interactive sports experience. The telecom giant will bring interactive experiences and holographic displays using the 5G+ framework to 17 venues by the end of 2021, which will increase the service to over 40 venues. The deployment of this network infrastructure within stadiums will also empower teams and management by providing novel pathways for training, gathering analytics, and day-to-day business processes.
AT&T’s 5G stadium experience brings fans closer to their favorite sports and teams.
AT&T has plans to deploy 5G+ to over 30 of its retail locations by the end of 2021. This follows a trial deployment at the Dallas Discovery District, which offered 5G-powered artificial reality entertainment experiences that not only showcase the strength of the network but also bring customers closer to the entertainment brands they’re loyal to.
The company also hopes that 5G+ will be able to meet the needs of gamers by providing a steadying signal with low latency in situations where milliseconds of lag can be a matter of virtual life and death. The intersection of 5G+ and cloud gaming will allow for more robust multiplayer activity. Games can be accessed wherever a customer is located, without the need to be physically near the user’s console system. This foray into the gaming as a service (GaaS) is an expansion of AT&T’s service portfolio and uses existing infrastructure and company resources. The company will be announcing strategic gaming partnerships in the months ahead and has already begun integrating its 5G networks with Microsoft Cloud to provide next-generation gaming experiences.
How AT&T 5G fits into industry, health care and education,
AT&T’s presentation highlights the company’s current place in the 5G market while pointing toward the future of the broadband technology.
The utility conglomerate is spearheading an ongoing effort to launch 5G+ at seven airports by the end of 2021, following the successful launch of the broadband signal at Tampa International Airport. This offering is a direct result of the feedback AT&T has received from its customers—and it will provide seamless Internet connectivity where that kind of access is most crucial. The project will cover major gate and concession spaces, where travelers and airport operations need them the most. The company hopes to further expand its footprint in the world of logistics and transportation with applications in autonomous vehicles and train connections to provide smoother travel experiences for its business customers.
AT&T is expanding its dedicated business fiber network by adding 5G+ wireless solutions to its current business customer offerings to allow for further connectivity and more robust wireless signal solutions. Numerous university campuses are being connected to 5G networks, which will provide stronger networking for research labs and classroom spaces. The disruption caused by COVID-19 has shown that there is tremendous need for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) teaching, as well as research solutions, and 5G network expansion is there to provide the necessary infrastructure for the changing world. The company is also expanding similarly in the health care field—it’s already making partnerships with institutions like the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the Ellison Institute at the University of Southern California (USC) to provide AR therapy in dedicated environments.
AT&T’s Edge Computing and Security Strategy
AT&T sees itself as a leader in edge computing and views 5G networks and edge computing as complementary to one another. The need for low-latency high-speed connections is evermore important, and the company already has existing customers with dedicated on-premises multi-access edge computers to deploy private 5G networks. The company’s strategic partnerships and powerful infrastructure have created an ecosystem where customers have been able to trial several innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, and connected informational environments that have never been possible before.
AT&T’s 5G+ offerings are also closely tied with the government and public sector. A network as powerful as this needs to hold secure and have public safety at its forefront. The company has over a thousand security-related patents and actively monitors its network continuously using AI, algorithms and top network security experts. The strength of these security protocols is evident by its extensive public sector and Department of Defense contracts. First responders in the FirstNet network have dedicated priority access to the entirety of the company’s LTE spectrum and are now gaining access to the 5G spectrum to meet mission needs. The military is using 5G technology across several its bases in applications like AR training, smart warehousing, and networking capabilities to support large-scale operations involving tens of thousands of military personnel simultaneously.
AT&T’s deployment of a wide spectrum of signal bands not only helps expand its current coverage but also improves the offerings and network that is already in place by providing a stronger, more reliable, and more constant speeds and connections where customers need them most. 5G+ capabilities allow the company to provide network as a service (NaaS) in a wider range of applications, thus expanding its customer base while putting it at the forefront of innovation and connectivity.
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