Ample capex layout has allowed AT&T to hit several network milestones in the expansion of its 5G and fiber coverage. Over the past five years (2018–2022), the carrier has invested more than $140 billion primarily in its U.S. wireless and wireline networks, including capital investments and acquisitions of wireless spectrum.
On the wireless side, it now covers more than 2.91 million square miles, which is an increase of about 100,000 square miles in the last year, reaching 290 million people in nearly 24,000 cities and towns across the U.S. Wireless coverage of federally recognized tribal lands has grown 40 percent in the last two years due to public-private partnerships like FirstNet and those created through the American Rescue Plan, as well as its own investment initiatives.
In 2022, the operator laid more than 60,000 miles of fiber in the U.S., which helped it carry more than 594 petabytes of data traffic on an average day, up 23 percent year-over-year. With more than 24 million locations passed, AT&T remains on track for its goal to pass 30+ million locations by the end of 2025.
AT&T also said that it has invested in boosting network resiliency by establishing a third “emergency” pathway to each mobility network hub to combat extreme weather and climate events as well as increasing instabilities in the commercial power infrastructure landscape. As a result, the likelihood of major outages was reduced by 35 percent.
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