How AT&T is Investing in Ohio

AT&T Blog Team
June 10, 2025
Expanding and Investing in Broadband


How AT&T is Investing in Ohio

What’s new: In Ohio, we invested more than $2.8 billion in our network infrastructure from 2020-2024 to connect more people to greater possibility.

Cities and communities throughout Ohio are seeing the impacts of this investment, including:

  • Nearly $625 million in Columbus
  • More than $525 million in the Cleveland area
  • More than $375 million in Akron
  • More than $200 million in Cincinnati
  • More than $175 million in Dayton-Kettering
  • More than $120 million in Toledo
  • Nearly $80 million in Youngstown-Warren-Boardman market
  • More than $35 million in the Southeast Region of Ohio
  • More than $7.7 million in Athens
  • More than $6.1 million in Lima

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.

How we’re making it happen in Ohio: 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.
  • 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 Ohio, 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 Ohio. 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 Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
    • For less densely populated areas like Chillicothe, West Liberty and Grand Prairie, we’re expanding our 5G network so people there can have access to reliable connectivity.
    • 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 Ohio, we’re connecting public safety agencies and organizations in more than 1,120 localities across the state, including Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati, Dayton, Kent, Canton, Toledo, Springfield, Lima, and Youngstown.
  • We’ve rolled out Band 14 on nearly 2,100 sites across Ohio 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.

  • To help bridge the digital divide in Cleveland and Columbus, we opened three AT&T Connected Learning Centers providing free internet, wi-fi, and devices to support connectivity in local communities. The three AT&T Connected Learning Centers in Ohio are located in:
    • Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center (ASC3) in Cleveland
    • Esperanza in Cleveland
    • Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Ohio, J. Ashburn Jr. Clubhouse in Columbus

Good news is always great to share. Here are a few highlights from the last year in Ohio:

  • Jan. 29, 2025 | AT&T has expanded its 5G network in Ohio. Learn more.
  • Nov. 7, 2024 | “Every Day and Every Veteran is a Chance to Create a Life Changing Event”. Learn more.
  • Sept. 10, 2024 | “I love working with FirstNet because I love working with first responders.” Learn more.

To keep up with all the latest updates from AT&T Ohio, follow us on X @ATTPublicPolicy and on LinkedIn.


*FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks and service marks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

*About AT&T

We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses, connect to greater possibility. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn more at investors.att.com.

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