News

 

AT&T Ranks #1 in Telecom Globally in FORTUNE’s Most Admired Companies for Third Year in a Row

 
 

AT&T Also Ranked Among World's Top 50 Most Admired Companies 

AT&T* was recognized by FORTUNE magazine as the Most Admired Telecommunications Company in the world

 

“Our industry has never been more dynamic than it is right now. And that makes this recognition particularly meaningful,” said AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. “It’s really a tribute to the hard work and customer commitment of each and every employee in the AT&T family.”

The publication also placed AT&T at #37 among the Top 50 Most Admired companies in the world. This is our fourth year on the Global Top 50 list. AT&T is also the only communications company on the list. We ranked first in all 9 attributes again, including innovation, financial soundness and quality of products/services. 

 

FORTUNE’s Most Admired Companies lists are among the most highly respected indicators of corporate performance and reputation.

 

FORTUNE and its partner, the Hay Group, survey top executives and directors from FORTUNE 1000 and Global 500 companies and financial analysts to identify the Most Admired Companies.

 

They seek companies with the strongest reputations, both in their own industry and overall. Then, they rate companies on various attributes. This includes ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of products and services, quality of management, innovation, social responsibility, and use of corporate assets and long-term investment value.

 

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

 

 

News from AT&T 

 

Travelers at Tampa International Airport will be the First to Experience AT&T’s Super-Fast Service

DALLAS, January 14, 2021

The effects of COVID-19 left a huge impact on the travel industry with a heavy decline in national and international travel among Americans. Although things have slowed down, AT&T is working behind the scenes to enhance customer travel experiences with the widespread deployment of 5G+ in airports across the country.
 
The multi-year effort will cover major gate and concession spaces at select U.S. airports, where travelers and airport employees have the greatest need when accessing mobile applications and entertainment with a 5G+ capable device.
 
AT&T 5G+ Lands at Tampa International Airport.
 
Last month, AT&T launched 5G+ at TPA, providing coverage from the moment passengers with a current unlimited plan turn on their capable phones at the airplane boarding gates, to the moment they leave the airport.
 
“This is a tremendous enhancement for our passengers and guests and we’re thrilled to be able to roll this out just in time for Super Bowl LV,” said Marcus Session, TPA’s VP of Information Technology Services. “With the future increase of airport traffic, it is important that our wireless networks are enhanced to support the connected traveler. Having this kind of connectivity will help improve the passenger experience and create a positive impression for everyone who uses it.”
 
How Can Travelers Benefit from 5G+ in Airports
 
A stronger network means no more worrying about hit-or-miss Wi-Fi connections in airports. Travelers can stay connected to the people they love, be more productive working or stay entertained watching their favorite movies or shows. Customers with a capable device and qualifying plan will be able to download an entire season of Friends or Sesame Street on HBO Max before a flight to stay entertained throughout their journey.
 
Our investment has enabled AT&T to have the Fastest Nationwide 5G Network1 and with 5G+ coverage coming to participating U.S airports, AT&T will deliver greater connectivity for travelers in the U.S. and help provide a more enjoyable, seamless travel experience. In addition, fast and reliable connectivity in airports can also help improve operational efficiency for airlines, other tenants and airport operations.
 
“We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations with technology that will enhance their day-to-day lives,” said Jay Cary, VP - 5G Product & Innovation Postpaid Wireless Products. “As Americans gain confidence traveling again, we’re proud to bring AT&T 5G+ to its first airport, with more to come nationwide. Providing our 5G+ network in airports across the country will help enhance experiences of streaming and downloading movies and games, securely access demanding business applications, and help with logistics such as in-airport navigation, checking flight updates and more.”
 
AT&T 5G+ – It’s Not Complicated
 
Access to our 5G+ network is now easier than ever because it comes included in our postpaid unlimited plans at no extra cost to you. And those customers with AT&T Unlimited Elite get the added benefit of HBO Max included on us. 5G+ is included in our postpaid business unlimited plans too.2
 
AT&T’s 5G+ airport investment is another example of our commitment to dedicate time and resources to improve our network for customers and communities across the country. To learn more about our 5G+ network, visit att.com/5Gforyou.
 

 

1 Based on AT&T analysis of Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data median 5G download speeds for Q4 2020 comparing ‘nationwide’ 5G networks. 5G Coverage analysis based on carrier’s public statements. Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission. AT&T 5G requires compatible device and plan. Coverage not available everywhere. Visit att.com/5Gforyou to learn more.

2 5G and 5G+ require compatible device and plan. 5G and 5G+ may not be in your area. For coverage details, see att.com/5Gforyou.  With unlimited plans, AT&T may slow data speeds if the network is busy.

Fiber-Optic Internet In the United States

 
 
25% BROADBAND NATION-WIDE Fiber COVERAGE

Fiber to the home or FTTH as it is commonly referred to is the gold standard of residential internet connections.

With much of the backbone of the internet deployed using fiber optic cable, it is no surprise that fiber optics are the fastest form of broadband technology.

In fact, the latest deployments by Verizon FiOS and Google Fiber are capable of reaching speeds of 500mbps and 1gbps respectively.

 

The biggest benefit of fiber is that it can offer much faster speeds over much longer distances than traditional copper-based technologies like DSL and cable. The actual service depends on the company providing the service, but in most cases fiber is the best bang for the buck broadband and future-proof for as long as we can tell. Even if typical broadband speeds become 1000 times faster in 20 years, a single existing fiber-optic connection can still support it.

For more details about the number of fiber optic providers and what communities they serve, we've compiled a full list of a every provider offering fiber optic internet service in the United States.

 

Should You Get Fiber Optic Internet?

If you have a fiber provider in your area and you are interested in near instantaneous connection speeds then fiber optic is your best bet. We definitely recommend this technology.

 

Benefits of Fiber Optic Broadband

Transfer lots of data quickly.

Because fiber broadband is the fastest internet available, you can transfer large amounts of data quickly and seamlessly. This means that whether you are watching a movie on Netflix or video chatting with family in Asia or Europe your connection will be seamless and quick (provided they are on fiber too).

Next Generation Technology

Because fiber-optics uses light instead of electricity to transmit data, the frequencies that are used are much higher and the data capacity is much greater. The fiber-optic cable itself is made from glass or plastic which is not susceptible to electromagnetic interference like metal cables. This allows data to flow over great distances without degrading. Interference and energy loss is the limiting factor for all types of communication transmissions and fiber optics handles these factors much better than other modes of transmission. In the future, more and more of our world will be connected via fiber optics as we outgrow the old copper based infrastructures.

 

Limitations of Fiber

New Infrastructure Requirements

The biggest limitation hindering widespread fiber optic adoption is the cost requirements of implementing new fiber optic lines when old infrastructures such as DSL and cable are still serving customers.

Installing a new fiber optic network is a large capital expenditure for service providers. However, as the cost to maintain aging copper networks increases over time, more and more will choose to upgrade to fiber if not purely for financial reasons. Of course as consumer demand for better and faster broadband increases, service providers will have to install fiber-optic networks to meet that demand. Our mission is to bring that power to the consumer.

How Fiber Optic Internet Works

fiber optics

From the ultra-fast transatlantic fiber lines that connect the Americas and Europe, to the data hubs that connect you to the internet, everything comes back to fiber... But how does it work?

Well, at a fundamental level, fiber optic communication works by sending small binary transmissions of light down a fiber optic wire. Then, at each end of the fiber optic infrastructure there is a computer, repeater, or optic amplifier that makes sense of the signal or amplifies it so it can continue on down the network.

Similarly, fiber to the home technology works by delivering a fiber optic connection all the way to the premises of the consumer allowing for much faster and lower latency speeds than DSL or cable.

 

Fiber Optic Performance

According to the FCC, companies providing fiber optic internet connections offer 117 percent of the advertised speed during peak times, greater than that of DSL and cable.

Additionally, the FCC found that fiber internet has the lowest latency (18ms) of all of service types tested. If you are unfamiliar, latency is a key metric to how fast your internet responds and "feels."

Even though fiber optic internet is the way of the future, as of 2012 only 23% of Americans have access to fiber broadband ranking the United States 14th of many western countries in fiber optic penetration according to the OECD.

 

Fast fiber-optic broadband spreads across developed world

 
Double-digit growth means high-speed fiber links are becoming more common in Europe and America. Copper lines keep getting faster, though, and some network operators aren't eager to pay for upgrades.
Mobile
 
Fiber-optic broadband is becoming less of a rarity.
 
Subscriptions to the high-speed networking service grew 13.9 percent from June 2012 to June 2013, according to newly released statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which monitors economic trends in North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and some other developed countries and regions.
 
That growth means fiber-optic links now are used for 15.8 percent of broadband connections in the OECD area.
 
Of course, usage varies widely by country. Japan leads with 68.5 percent penetration of fiber-optic links, with South Korea close behind at 62.8 percent. Sweden is in third place at 35.9 percent; the US is in 14th place with an estimated 7.7 percent.
 
The fastest growth in new connections is taking place in Mexico, with a 290 percent increase in fiber connections from 2012 to 2013. The UK grew at 172 percent; Chile at 171 percent; New Zealand at 141 percent; Australia at 121 percent.
Some countries are moving toward fiber-optic broadband faster than others. This shows the difference in penetration from 2012 to 2013.
Some countries are moving toward fiber-optic broadband faster than others. This shows the difference in penetration from 2012 to 2013. (Click to enlarge.) OECD
 
Though the US lags other countries in some areas -- its fiber-optic growth was just 12 percent, for example -- it leads the OECD in one prominent domain, the sheer number of broadband connections. The US accounts for 299 million of the OECD's 851 wireless data connections, and for 92 million of the OECD's 332 million broadband connections using fixed lines such as those for DSL and cable TV.
 
Fiber-optic lines offer much higher data rates than the copper wiring that's more common for bringing broadband Internet access to homes. Copper wiring is convenient, since it's typically already installed for phone and cable TV service, but fiber optics can reach longer distances and enable data rates of 100 megabits per second to 1 gigabit per second.
 
Among other projects, Google Fiber is bringing 1Gbps broadband to four US cities, but generally fiber links are unusual in the States. It's expensive to lay fiber-optic lines to homes, and telecommunications companies have been able to steadily squeeze more and more out of copper lines.
 
One illustration of the difficulties: Seattle's high-speed fiber broadband plan faltered as the company implementing it, Gigabit Squared, said it was having trouble raising enough money. Intermediate approaches also are possible. for example, it's common in the UK to lay fiber-optic lines only as far as the network equipment near homes but rely on the existing copper wiring for the last leg of the hookup.
 
Few homes need 1Gbps or even 100Mbps broadband today, but new computing uses have steadily absorbed existing capacity -- streaming audio, streaming video, online backup, software updates, video chat, multiplayer games, animated GIFs, and more.
 
Higher-resolution 4K video is the next bandwidth-hogging transition the industry is likely to make, and households might want to watch multiple shows at once over the same connection or record one show on a DVR while watching another. The arrival of smartphones and tablets means people are hooking up more devices to the network, too. And don't forget about all the Internet-connected cars, door locks, thermostats, solar panels, electric car chargers, smoke detectors, and heart rate monitors.
 
Across the OECD, cable-based broadband was more common than fiber, accounting for 30.9 percent of connections in 2013. The most common was DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), which accounted for 52.7 percent of connections, the OECD said.
Wireless network subscriptions are common enough that in some countries, people average more than one subscription each.
Wireless network subscriptions are common enough that in some countries, people average more than one subscription each. (Click to enlarge.) OECD
 
Plenty of people have wireless broadband services, too, that don't rely on fixed lines leading to homes. Ordinary mobile-network links -- those used by mobile phones -- dominate, with usage at 85.2 percent, though there are other options such as dedicated data dongles that link computers to wireless networks. Satellite-based broadband, which helped Europe meet a goal of 100 percent broadband coverage by 2013, remains very rare.
 
"Satellite only represents 0.26 percent of wireless broadband subscriptions -- about 2 million in the OECD area," said OECD analyst Agustin Diaz-Pines "In some countries it is slightly higher such as the United States (0.5 percent) and Australia (0.4 percent). It is the technology you use to get where no other technology is economical."
 
In six countries -- Australia, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Korea, and Denmark -- people have enough wireless subscriptions that, on average, there is more than one per country resident, the OECD said.
 
The European Commission is striving to push Europe toward a new broadband goal for 2020: 100 percent coverage at speeds of 30Mbps or better and 50 percent coverage at 50Mbps or better. But network operators complain that push is too expensive to make financial sense.