It’s safe to say none of us saw last year coming. And the changes we’ve all experienced have been profound and ongoing.
But while the pandemic scrambled everyone’s plans, AT&T’s commitment to reliability, resiliency and outstanding service for our customers never wavered. As so much of the world felt like it was tearing at the seams, we knew our network, services, and people had to hold strong for our customers – and they did.
Our commitment to engaging in our Indiana communities never wavered during the pandemic either. Below you’ll read about how we’ll be assisting an Indianapolis school with its connectivity needs. And you’ll get an update on our “Believe Indy” initiative.
If you live in Northern Indiana, be sure to read about the upcoming 10-digit dialing requirements for the 574 and 219 area codes.
As Hoosiers are finally getting their vaccine shots – learn more about how to get yours here – we’re also happy to share some great network news that our teams made possible, so we’re ready for whatever comes next.
Thank you, as always, for your passion and commitment to our great state.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.
Sincerely,
Bill Soards
Supporting education with free hot spots, connectivity
Right about the time students and teachers crossed the threshold into a full year of remote learning, AT&T announced that, as a result of its collaboration with nonprofit Connected Nation, Indianapolis’ Avondale Meadows Academy is scheduled to receive more than 300 free hotspots as well as free internet connectivity.
Avondale Meadows is among more than 100 organizations and school districts across the country that will benefit from a $10 million commitment from AT&T first announced last year to provide free internet subscriptions and wireless hotspots to 35,000 vulnerable students across the country.
An estimated 17 million K-12 students nationwide and 363,000 students in Indiana currently lack access to the connectivity and devices required for successful online learning. While this homework gap is not new, the pandemic has heightened the challenges — most acutely in rural and under-resourced neighborhoods, where the effects disproportionately impact 1 in 3 students of color, as well as students with disabilities, and roughly 10 percent of all public school teachers.
In addition to contributions to organizations like Avondale Meadows Academy, AT&T is expanding wireless affordability and flexibility for all schools in its service area with unlimited wireless data plans that include content filtering services to support online safety protocols.
Learn more about the offer here or visit www.att.com/closethegap.
Believe Indy: What’s new?
Just because many of us are still working remotely, doesn’t mean our Believe Indy initiative has slowed down.
In March, AT&T Indiana employees volunteered virtually, conducting “speed interviews” for the Indianapolis Urban League’s “New Beginnings” program,” which helps individuals successfully transition from assistance, incarceration, unemployment or underemployment to self-sufficiency.
And building on our first “Believes at Home” project last fall, we’ll soon be launching another in-home volunteering opportunity for our employees. We’re planning to arrange STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) kits for local students to enhance their educational experiences.
As a reminder, Believe Indy was launched in 2019 to lift lives and help reduce violent crime in Indianapolis. Through Believe, in less than two years AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have provided more than $550,000 to 21 nonprofits across the city. Our employees have also volunteered to mentor local students, feed the homeless, fill backpacks with school supplies, and work at events that are geared toward improving relationships between public safety and the neighborhoods they serve.
Ten-digit dialing coming for Northwest and North Central Indiana
A heads up for many of our customers who live up north: Everyone in northern Indiana’s 219 and 574 telephone area codes is encouraged to start using 10 digits, rather than seven, to make local phone calls. (For example, callers should dial “219-555-5555” or “574-555-5555” instead of “555-5555.”) This will help ease into the upcoming transition to mandatory 10-digit dialing for local calls within the 219 and 574 area codes.
Local calls made with seven digits will still work until October 24, 2021, to allow everyone ample time to adjust to the new dialing pattern and to make any required system changes before 10-digit dialing becomes mandatory for local calls.
The change to 10-digit dialing is necessary to accommodate the national “988” National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, as designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All telecommunications providers in the United States are required to implement the three-digit 9-8-8 dialing code for the hotline by July 16, 2022. Under the FCC order, 10-digit dialing must be in place before then for any area code with a “988” prefix.
Information courtesy of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and the Indiana Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor.
More AT&T Fiber for Indiana cities
As part of our company’s strategy and financial outlook update, in March we announced that we plan to increase our fiber footprint across the country by an additional 3 million customer locations across more than 90 metro areas in 2021. Those metro areas include Evansville, Indianapolis and South Bend.
Between 2016 and 2020, AT&T’s total investment in the United States, including capital investment and acquisitions of spectrum and wireless operations, was more than $105 billion. And over the past five years, AT&T has invested more in the United States than any other public company.
