How AT&T is Investing in North Carolina

What’s new: In North Carolina, we invested nearly $3.2 billion in our network infrastructure from 2020-2024 to connect more people to greater possibility.

Why it matters: Every American deserves access to fast, reliable connectivity when it matters most – whether it’s an important call to a family member or friend, the internet that powers work or online learning, or the connection that first responders rely on. It’s this connectivity that’s powering economic growth and supporting job creation across America.

Our mission: We’re investing across the country not only to boost network reliability and capacity, but also to expand broadband nationwide to help bridge the digital divide.

We are collaborating with the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Opportunity and the First Responder Network Authority to bring connectivity to more North Carolinians and public safety communicators that need reliable high-speed internet to participate in crucial online services.

“We appreciate AT&T’s continued investment in high-speed internet infrastructure to help us create a more connected North Carolina,” said NCDIT Secretary and State Chief Information Officer Teena Piccione. “Access to reliable, high-speed internet is essential to enhancing economic growth, supporting education opportunities and ensuring more North Carolinians have the technology needed to thrive in the digital economy.”

“At AT&T, we are committed to connecting our communities and bringing the benefits of connectivity to more North Carolinians through our investments in the state,” said Trey Rabon, President, AT&T North Carolina. “Every day, our AT&T employees work to expand our fiber footprint and 5G network across North Carolina, and we are proud to invest in the modern communications infrastructure drives innovation and creates opportunities throughout our state.”

How we’re making it happen in North Carolina: Committed to expanding connectivity, our investment focuses on all facets of the network —including fiber, 5G and FirstNet,^® Built with AT&T.

• Expanding Access to Fiber: To help meet the demands for reliable, high-speed connections today – and in the future – we’re investing in our fiber network.
  • With more than 4.6 million strand miles of fiber in North Carolina, AT&T Fiber^® is now available to more than 1.22 million customer locations in more than 115 communities.
  • With nearly 91 million fiber strand miles in 21 states, AT&T Fiber^® now passes nearly 29 million consumer and business locations.
• Expanding Access to Fiber: AT&T Fiber is now available in the Weddington area! Through a joint venture with BlackRock, we plan to serve customers outside of AT&T’s traditional service areas through Gigapower.
• Building Networks for the Next Century: To reach our goal and better serve our customers with faster, more reliable services, we’re actively investing to modernize our networks that will power us for the next century, not the last one. We’re working to exit our legacy copper network operations across the large majority of our wireline footprint by the end of 2029. Throughout this transition, no customer will lose voice or 911 services. We developed products like AT&T Phone-Advanced, a digital phone service that uses our reliable wireless network and any broadband connection, as a reliable alternative to plain old telephone service (POTS).
  • Today, AT&T Phone-Advanced is available in over 100 markets across 21 states, including North Carolina, and will continue to expand to other markets and states across the country.
• Unlocking the Power of 5G: From rural communities to urban areas, our overall wireless voice and data network covers more than 99% of all Americans, including North Carolina. Our 5G network using low-band spectrum reaches more than 310 million people in more than 26,100 cities and towns in the U.S.
  • We’re working with businesses from manufacturing to healthcare to create new innovations and increase efficiencies with AT&T 5G.
  • We’re ramping up performance in high traffic areas, like airports, stadiums and venues, including Bank of America Stadium and the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, and Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
  • And we’re also working with AST SpaceMobile to one day offer voice, data, text and video services in remote, off-grid locations.
  • We also launched AT&T Internet Air, our fixed wireless home internet service delivered over our 5G network, an all-in-one device that powers strong Wi-Fi coverage in your home.
• Unprecedented Connectivity for First Responders: As public safety’s partner, we are bringing better connectivity to public safety when — and where — they need it. Now with more than 2.99M square miles of coverage, FirstNet has the largest network footprint in the country, covering more first responders than competing commercial networks, and we are only continuing to grow. As part of our 10-year, $8B+ investment initiative with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) to transform public safety’s communications, we’ve completed the buildout of 1,000 new FirstNet sites across the country – well ahead of schedule and almost twice as fast as we pledged – providing first responders with dedicated connectivity on public safety’s Band 14 spectrum. And we’re continuing to expand FirstNet with purpose-built FirstNet sites— based on public safety’s direct feedback and network considerations — focused on rural, tribal and remote areas of the country.
• In North Carolina, we’re connecting public safety agencies and organizations in more than 770 localities across the state.
• We’ve rolled out Band 14 on nearly 2,000 sites across North Carolina to provide public safety with truly dedicated coverage and capacity.

And we’re not just investing in our network, we’re also investing in our communities. AT&T announced last year it’s committing an additional $3 billion by 2030 to help close the digital divide, bringing the company’s total commitment to $5 billion since 2021.