AT&T investing $1 billion to expand services worldwide

AT&T Inc, the second-biggest wireless carrier in the US, is planning to spend $1 billion in 2010 to enhance its services to its large customers worldwide and small businesses in the US.
 
Dallas, Texas-based AT&T, ranked among the 50 most admired companies by Fortune magazine, said the 2010 investment programme for businesses is part of its overall existing capital plan.

Including this year's planned investment, AT&T will have invested more than $4 billion since 2006 in business-focused network, systems and applications to more than 3.5 million business customers it serves.

"Despite the continuing challenges of today's economic environment, we continue to deliver on our commitment to provide companies with the network-centric capabilities and applications they need to enhance their operations," said Ron Spears, president and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions.
 
"IP-based solutions and applications have become ever more important to companies aiming to take their productivity to a new level while transforming their operations to adapt to their customer's changing needs," he added.

AT&T is capitalising on the ongoing shift in network traffic from voice to data and video, and more importantly to IP-based data and video, as customers migrate from legacy data networks to MPLS-based virtual private networks and managed applications.
 
AT&T said that it would deploy, upgrade its Global Managed Internet Services, including gigabit ethernet customer access across multiple locations in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
 
The company will also improve its emerging mobility applications and cloud-computing and hosting services for business customers.
 
It will install additional telepresence rooms in its overseas offices in Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Brazil and Canada.