AT&T’s WiFi hotzone pilot was
so successful, the carrier announced Dec. 28, that it plans to soon expand the
program to several additional locations. Kicking off the new growth will be an
extension of its Times Square hotzone — launched
in June — as well as new
Manhattan hotzones near Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
"We’re excited to start the next phase of our
hotzone program with additional WiFi coverage areas in New York City and, soon,
in San Francisco," Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president of AT&T WiFi
Services, said in a statement. "AT&T WiFi will be available across a wider
area for Manhattan residents, visitors and New Year’s Eve revelers during the
busy holiday season and beyond. Plus, San Francisco residents are expected to
soon be able to enjoy a WiFi hotzone in the Embarcadero Center area as they
shop, dine and work."
The AT&T WiFi hotzones work to complement
the carrier’s 3G coverage, adding data network capacity in high-traffic areas.
The (
for
now) exclusive U.S. provider of the
Apple iPhone, AT&T has been particularly challenged to offer unwavering
data network support in San Francisco in New York, where iPhone owners are
heavy on the ground.
For AT&T wireless data subscribers, as
well as those with LaptopConnect and AT&T High Speed Internet plans,
unlimited access to the hotzones — just as with AT&T’s 23,000-plus hotspots
— is offered at no additional cost.
Earlier this year, AT&T deployed hotzones
in Charlotte, N.C., and Chicago’s Wrigleyville, in addition to Times Square.
"Our initial AT&T WiFi hotzones have
received great customer response and supported high data traffic," AT&T CTO
John Donovan said in the statement. "The pilot demonstrated the clear benefits
of having fast and readily available WiFi options for our customers and our
network, and so we have decided to deploy hotzones in more locations."
During the third quarter, the carrier handled
106.9 million WiFi connections—well above the 85.5 million it handled
during the whole of 2009. It attributed this increase to both an increase in
available WiFi, the popularity of the technology with consumers and the
increasing use of WiFi-enabled smartphones. Additionally, a growing number of
devices—such as the HTC Aria on AT&T, and the Droid X on Verizon
Wireless — can not only access WiFi but act as mobile hotspots, extending the
capability to a number of a user’s other devices.
The only one of the top-four U.S. carriers to
not currently offer a 4G network, earlier this month AT&T purchased
spectrum from Qualcomm—currently used to support Qualcomm’s FLO TV
business—that it plans to use in its planned LTE (long-term evolution) 4G
network.
It expects to begin making use of the
spectrum, it said in a Dec. 20 statement, "once compatible handsets and network
equipment are developed."
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