Powering Connection in South Carolina Through Infrastructure Investment

Powering Connection in South Carolina Through Infrastructure Investment

Terrance FordVice President, External Affairs, AT&T South Carolina
June 2, 2026

What’s new: In South Carolina, we invested nearly $1.5 billion in our network from 2021-2025 to build more infrastructure and power more opportunity. 

Why it matters: Connectivity is the backbone of South Carolina’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.  

 “AT&T’s investment in South Carolina’s network infrastructure strengthens a key driver of economic growth in our state,” said Sara Hazzard, President and Chief Executive Officer, South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce. “Modern, reliable connectivity helps attract new business, support existing employers, and create the conditions communities need to compete for jobs. This kind of infrastructure investment is essential to South Carolina’s long-term economic success.” 

 “We’re proud to continue investing in South Carolina’s network infrastructure to help connect more people, businesses, and communities to greater opportunity,” said Terrance Ford, Vice President of External Affairs, AT&T South Carolina. “These investments are part of our ongoing commitment to delivering reliable connectivity and supporting the growth, resilience, and future success of the Palmetto State.” 

How we’re making it happen in South 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 2.4 million fiber strand miles in South Carolina, AT&T Fiber® is now available to more than 560,000 customer locations in more than 65 communities. 
    • With over 97 million fiber strand miles in 21 states, AT&T Fiber® now passes nearly 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. 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 South Carolina.  
  • 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 South Carolina. 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. 
    • We’re ramping up performance in high traffic areas, like airports, stadiums and venues.  
    • 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 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 South Carolina, we’re connecting public safety agencies and organizations in more than 370 localities across the state.  
    • We’ve rolled out Band 14 on nearly 1,500 sites across South 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 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.   

To keep up with all the latest updates from AT&T South Carolina, 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 150 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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