AT&T has announced that it has created an AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone in downtown Charlotte, N.C. to enhance the mobile broadband experience for AT&T customers. The large outdoor Wi-Fi hotzone provides coverage along South Brevard Street from the area around the NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza to East Trade Street, and for AT&T customers waiting to use the nearby Lynx light rail.
The Charlotte, N.C., AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone is the second to be deployed as part of a pilot project to explore using Wi-Fi to supplement AT&T’s mobile broadband coverage in areas with consistently high 3G traffic and mobile data use. AT&T launched its first pilot Wi-Fi hotzone in New York City’s Times Square in May, and customer usage has been better than expected. AT&T plans to further expand the pilot project with the launch of a third AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone in Chicago in the coming weeks.
“Our first AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone in New York City has received praise from our customers, and we’re excited to introduce this Wi-Fi solution in Charlotte,” said Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president, AT&T Wi-Fi Services. “Wi-Fi plays a key role in our strategy to mobilize everything that’s important to our customers -“ including entertainment, news, social networks and business apps. With these pilot AT&T Wi-Fi hotzones, we’re examining new ways to use a combination of our Wi-Fi and 3G networks to deliver the best possible mobile broadband experience.”
The expanded pilot program will allow AT&T to gather more information and customer feedback in order to continue to evaluate the benefits of Wi-Fi hotzones to provide another mobile broadband option for customers. More and more people are choosing to access AT&T’s Wi-Fi network with their Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, laptops, netbooks and other devices.
The popularity of Wi-Fi service -” particularly on mobile phones -” has grown tremendously. In the second quarter 2010, AT&T handled 68.1 million Wi-Fi connections on its network, compared to just 15 million in the same quarter last year. Customers can log onto AT&T Wi-Fi hotzones and more than 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots nationwide without it counting toward their monthly smartphone data usage. AT&T’s Wi-Fi network is meant to complement its wired broadband and wireless 3G networks, offering Wi-Fi connectivity at popular locations like retail stores, restaurants and coffee shops from coast-to-coast. For more information on AT&T Wi-Fi and how to connect, visit www.att.com/wifiaccess.
