Local wireless network upgrade extends Putnam County access

Thursday, October 20, 2011

AT&T has announced the expansion of its mobile broadband network in several Putnam County communities, including Greencastle, Bainbridge, Brick Chapel and Morton.

The increase extends access for advanced mobile services, devices and feature-rich audio and video content to customers in the area.

"This is great news for Greencastle and Putnam County and our efforts to build a stronger business climate," Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray said. "Increased access to mobile broadband also can provide greater educational opportunities for our children as they prepare to compete for jobs in the global marketplace."

District 44 State Rep. Jim Baird (R-Greencastle) was equally impressed.

"Access to enhanced wireless coverage has grown at an incredible rate in Putnam County over the past year," Baird said. "Bringing a faster mobile broadband network and more reliable voice and data coverage to Putnam County will help make our community a better place to live, work and grow."

This network improvement is part of AT&T's plan to invest in the $20 billion range in its national wireless and wireline networks in 2011. AT&T invested more than $225 million in its wireless and wireline networks from 2008 to 2010 in the greater Indianapolis area and nearly $925 million statewide during the same time period.

Earlier this year, AT&T announced the expansion of its mobile broadband network in Cloverdale and Heritage Lake.

"It is no accident that AT&T continues to invest in Putnam County," AT&T Indiana President George S. Fleetwood said. "Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Murray, Rep. Baird and the Putnam County Commissioners, it is evident that they understand the relationship between better wireless coverage and opportunities for economic growth."

"Demand for wireless bandwidth is growing rapidly, and we want to meet that demand for our customers," said Brian Ducharme, vice president and general manager, AT&T Indiana and Michigan.

"We're excited to expand mobile broadband in Putnam County. Our recently announced agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA also represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand our network. In fact, this deal, if approved, means that we'll be able to expand the next generation of mobile broadband -- 4G LTE -- from our current plan of 80 percent of the U.S. population to more than 97 percent."

AT&T's mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most widely used wireless network platforms in the world.

For more information about AT&T's coverage in Indiana or anywhere in the U.S., consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. Using the online tool, AT&T customers can measure coverage quality from a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.

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  • Another freebee GOP commercial. Did Jim Baird give you a kiss?

    -- Posted by mickhamblen on Thu, Oct 20, 2011, at 12:03 PM
  • That Cloverdale upgrade didn't help the area north of town on 231. The whole area from I-70 to US 40 and on north toward the hospital is a 3G dead zone.

    -- Posted by Clovertucky on Thu, Oct 20, 2011, at 12:22 PM
  • @ mickhamblen: Are you serious? Did you even think about what you were typing? The mayor of our fair city is a Democrat, or at least she was the last time I checked. Frankly, I am surprised that the "town and gown" cooperation was omitted from the article. Lord knows that students and their families really struggle with the non 3G service we have here. Maybe now we can forget about the un funded wi-fi bubble.

    -- Posted by Vernie1 on Thu, Oct 20, 2011, at 6:54 PM
  • incomplete story- what speed (HSPA+ or 4G LTE ) and when will it go online ? the story was just cut and paste press releases and PR .

    -- Posted by retinula on Thu, Oct 20, 2011, at 9:14 PM
  • I agree with ritinula. details please!

    -- Posted by just a local on Fri, Oct 21, 2011, at 12:27 AM
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