The second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S.,
AT&T
(
T
) recently launched its high-speed 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE)
services in six new cities namely Albuquerque, N.M.; Reading,
Penn.; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Higher adoption of smartphones and tablets has increased the
demand for much faster network services. Moreover, the new launch
of 4G LTE-based iPhone 5 (AT&T is the highest selling carrier
of iPhone 5) will further accelerate the bandwidth requirement
for AT&T going forward.
So, in an attempt to meet the increasing subscriber demand as
well as to compete with early movers like
Verzion Communications Inc.
(
VZ
) and AT&T's close rival
Sprint Nextel Corp.
(
S
), the company is continuously extending its 4G LTE technology
across the U.S. markets.
Earlier, AT&T just like Sprint has set a target to roll
out its 4G LTE service across 100 cities in the U.S. by the end
of 2012. The company has not only met its target but is currently
offering the new service in 109 cities across the nation. Over
the last five years, AT&T has invested more than $115 billion
(inclusive of spectrum and other asset acquisition) on its
wireless serviceand also plans to invest $14 billion more to
boost up its network by 2015.
In the recently concluded quarter, AT&T reported huge
customer addition of 1.3 million wireless customers totaling
105.2 million wireless subscribers compared to its close rival
Verizon Wireless, which added 1.2 million wireless subscribers,
totaling 94.2 million wireless subscribers. Consequently,
AT&T is making fast progress in rolling out its LTE service
to catch up with its close rival Verizon Wireless, which has
already deployed its LTE technology in more than 440 markets in
the U.S. Moreover, Sprint has also set a target to take its tally
to 115 markets by the next few months, thereby increasing
competition going forward.
We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on
AT&TInc.Currently, it has a Zacks#3 Rank, implying a
short-term Hold rating on the stock.
SPRINT NEXTEL (S): Free Stock Analysis Report
AT&T INC (T): Free Stock Analysis Report
VERIZON COMM (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
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