AT&T launched commercial LTE services in September 2011, in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. At the beginning of year 2012, AT&T has launched 4G LTE services in a total of 26 markets to 74 million consumers.

AT&Ts had planned field trials of LTE technology in 2011, with commercial deployment scheduled to begin in 2011. AT&T's LTE rollout schedule aligns with industry expectations for development of LTE technology and widespread availability of equipment and compatible LTE mobile devices. The supplier agreements also complement AT&T's plans to make the nation's fastest 3G network even faster in advance of LTE networks and devices scaling, allowing the company to continue delivering the most advanced mobile broadband experience in the nation.

AT&T has selected Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as equipment suppliers for the planned deployment of its higher-speed LTE mobile broadband network.

As part of the agreements, AT&T has designated Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as the domain suppliers for its Radio Access Network Domain. The multi-year agreement covers radio access network equipment needed to deliver LTE service. This equipment will be deployed at cell sites across AT&T's network to enable LTE speeds and functionality. Financial terms of the supplier agreements were not disclosed.

AT&T in January 2010 announced total 2010 capital expenditures are expected to be between $18 billion and $19 billion. These plans include an increase of approximately $2 billion in wireless network and backhaul investment, which will help ensure continued strong results in 3G network performance as well as preparation for planned deployment of LTE.

Earlier this year, AT&T upgraded 3G cell sites to HSPA 7.2 technology. Over the course of 2010 and 2011, AT&T plans to combine this upgrade with enhanced fiber-optic backhaul connectivity, which will support a considerable boost in 3G speeds as well as future LTE service. AT&T offers a total of 10 HSPA 7.2-compatible devices today, enabling millions of customers to immediately take advantage of faster 3G speeds as backhaul is deployed. In contrast, LTE devices are still in development today and are not expected to be widely available until 2011.

John T. Stankey, CEO, AT&T Operations talks about AT&T 's natural migration to LTE and the strong relationship between Alcatel-Lucent and AT&T.

AT&T's John Stankey talks about the decision to roll out LTE with Ericsson as a supplier.