What’s new: In Arkansas, we invested more than $1.3 billion in our network from 2021-2025 to build more infrastructure and power more opportunity.

Communities throughout Arkansas are seeing the impacts of this investment, including:

• Nearly $80 million in the Ft. Smith-Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers area
• Nearly $55 million in the Jonesboro area
• More than $800 million in the Little Rock-Pine Bluff area

But there’s more: With the current tax and regulatory environment the most conducive to investment in decades, and in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone call, we recently announced an investment and spend of more than $250 billion in the future of U.S. advanced connectivity, building the high-speed networks and resilience required for the next era of innovation and economic growth.

Why it matters: Connectivity is the backbone of America’s innovation economy, shaping our daily life and supporting the safety and resilience of communities nationwide. By investing in communities across the country, we’re helping expand access, strengthen infrastructure, and unlock greater economic opportunity for Americans—fueling business growth, creating jobs, and helping more people participate in the modern economy. 

How we’re making it happen in Arkansas: 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 1.7 million fiber miles in Arkansas, AT&T Fiber® is now available to more than 330,000 customer locations more than 40 communities. 
    
  • With over 97 million fiber strand miles in 21 states, AT&T Fiber® now passes reaches 32 million consumer and business locations.
• Building networks for the next century: To reach our goal and help our customers upgrade to faster, more reliable services, we’re actively investing in modern networks that will power us for the next century. We’re working to exit copper-based services in the majority of our wireline footprint by the end of 2029, including here in Arkansas.

Throughout this transition, no customer will lose access to voice or 911 services. We’re here to make the transition from copper to new technology like wireless and AT&T Phone-Advanced, a digital phone service that uses our reliable wireless network and any broadband connection as a backup, as easy as possible for our customers.

• Today, AT&T Phone-Advanced is available throughout our footprint markets across 21 states, including Arkansas.

• 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 Arkansas.  Our 5G network using low-band spectrum reaches more than 320 million people in more than 27,700 cities and towns in the U.S.
  • For less densely populated areas, we’re expanding our 5G network so people there can have access to reliable connectivity.
  • And we’re also working with AST SpaceMobile to offer a full suite of broadband connectivity: voice, data, and text in remote, off-grid locations. One day it may also support video services.  
  • 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.
• Connectivity when it matters the most: As public safety’s partner, more first responders choose FirstNet to reliably communicate than any other network. The largest network for public safety with nearly 3M square miles of coverage, we are building a network with and for public safety—giving them the reliable, dedicated connectivity they need when and where they need it. We’re continuing to expand FirstNet with purpose-built FirstNet cell sites— based on direct public safety feedback and network considerations — focused on rural, tribal and remote areas of the country. We are also launching the first mission-critical push-to-talk platform (PTT), FirstNet Fusion, that can connect teams across virtually any radio system or wireless carrier. A secure, one-stop shop for emergency response coordination, Fusion will eliminate complexities around group communication and bring together critical communications capabilities.
  • In Arkansas, we’re connecting public safety agencies and organizations in more than 570 localities across the state.  
  • We’ve rolled out Band 14 on more than 1,000 cell sites across Arkansas 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 has committed $5 billion by 2030 to narrow the digital divide and help 25 million people get and stay connected to affordable, high-speed internet access and digital resources

• In June 2025, we joined AT&T colleagues and other friends – including Human-I-T, the Toad Suck Daze Foundation, and Toad Suck Daze mascots Dazey and Croaker W. Toad – in Conway to distribute 120 refurbished laptops and 250 backpacks filled with school supplies to students in Faulkner, Conway, and Perry Counties.
• In July 2025, we opened a new Connected Learning Center inside Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids (P.A.R.K.) in Little Rock to provide internet access and high-quality educational tools to residents who encounter barriers to online participation. AT&T made a $50,000 contribution to P.A.R.K. for programming support. And, we teamed up with Human-I-T teamed up to provide 120 laptops for students who participate in programs at P.A.R.K. 
• In August 2025, AT&T* and Human-I-T provided the Bryant Youth Association 120 refurbished laptops to distribute to Bryant area students. The computers were given to local students during a special event at Bishop Park. In addition to the refurbished computers, 300 backpacks filled with school supplies were provided to local students. AT&T employees volunteered to assist with the distribution.
• We made a $23,000 contribution to the Literacy Coalition of South Central Arkansas to support the continuation of the RISE Digital Literacy Mobile Lab that provides low-income adults and their families located in rural communities of Union, Dallas, and Ouachita Counties with basic computer literacy skills.
• We provided a $35,000 contribution to support the Arkansas Be Pro Be Proud mobile workshop that provides interactive career exploration with cutting-edge simulators and real-world tools that represent high-demand skilled professions such as fiber optics.  
• We provided a $40,000 contribution to the East Arkansas Area Agency on Aging to provide iPads and digital literacy training for senior citizens.  
• Read more. 

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

• Sept. 23, 2025 | AT&T Opens Connected Learning Center at P.A.R.K in Little Rock 

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