dslreports logo
 story category
AT&T Expands Availability of its New Fixed Wireless Service

AT&T today announced that the company is expanding availability of the company's new fixed wireless broadband service. Announced last April, AT&T's creatively-named "Fixed Wireless Internet" service features a 10 Mbps LTE connection with a 160 GB monthly cap. From there, users pay $10 per each 50GB of additional data consumed -- up to a maximum of $200 per month. The service costs $60 per month with a one-year contract, or $70 per month without a contract (and after the contract period expires).

Click for full size
Users that sign a contract and bundle the service with AT&T wireless or DirecTV will pay $50 per month, or $60 per month without a contract.

Originally only available in Atlanta and select portions of Georgia, the company today announced it's expanding availability of the offering into eight additional states: Alabam; Florida; Kentucky; Mississippi; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee and Louisiana. Like other fixed-wireless efforts, the service requires an outdoor antenna mounted on the consumer or business' roof, and an inside residential gateway.

AT&T says availability will expand to include 67,000 locations by 2020.

The service's primary function? To provide something vaguely-resembling next-generation connectivity to some of the millions of DSL users nobody (including AT&T) wants to upgrade. The company has been lobbying, state by state, to eliminate rules requiring they maintain their older copper network (much of which taxpayers paid for and is still very much in use) so the company can make the transition to more profitable wireless services just like this one.

“We’re committed to connect hard-to-reach locations to the internet. This changes lives and creates economic growth for these areas," said Cheryl Choy, vice president, wired voice and internet products at AT&T. "We’re excited to bring this service to even more underserved locations."

The company's press release has a little more detail on this new fixed wireless offering.

Most recommended from 45 comments



Anon11536
@2600:1005.x

7 recommendations

Anon11536

Anon

at&t 5g

Tell me again about the future of at&t 5G. No backhaul. Roads go through rural areas. Having to install a completely different system/antennas. Required home visit/professional installation. Overages made-up fees. Seems very efficient! All for more money than gigabit elsewhere. Thanks at&t!

mixdup
join:2003-06-28
Alpharetta, GA

6 recommendations

mixdup

Member

"Available"

Checked my parents' house in rural Alabama to see what their availability was, they have legacy DSL that AT&T desperately doesn't want to sell anymore, can't order new lines, etc...this is not available. So, good luck I guess if you actually want to get internet in a rural area

Anon18a9f
@teksavvy.com

4 recommendations

Anon18a9f

Anon

Ha Ha Ha Ha

They must be dreaming to think anyone would by that kind of cash for a measly 10mb/s. And it's subject to congestion in a big way, and it's subject to bad weather, and line of sight issues.....it's no replacement for an actual wire entering a home. This makes more sense for rural areas, but no one wants to spend money on towers.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

3 recommendations

tshirt

Premium Member

is 67k locations mean...

67,000 homes served?
67,000 base stations/towers?
67,000 towns?
the first is hardly worth announcing
The second would be a great start toward rural coverage
the third doesn't seem likely, but should be a goal for a company the size of AT&T, with the under served area the size of AT&T.
it's still not rocket science, but it is a basic internet connection (not "BROADBAND")