Verizon won’t be the only 4G LTE access in Valdosta anymore:
AT&T has turned theirs on.
It’s not clear how far out of town that extends (looks to me
like I still need to go stand by my west gate if I want on),
but at least it’s a start of competition, and maybe T will
get around to increasing
its coverage (see next post).
If

Softbank + Sprint + Clearwire comes here, as well,
maybe we’ll see something like a competitive market.
It’s not clear even that will be enough to get fast affordable
access everywhere in south Georgia.
For that, maybe our local elected and appointed officials
will continue with

the advocacy they started back in February.

As mentioned at the Industrial Authority yesterday evening by
Executive Director Andrea Schruijer (video to come), here’s
AT&T’s PR of 2 July 2013,

AT&T 4G LTE Available In Valdosta:
Customers to benefit from nation’s fastest 4G LTE network on the latest devices,

VALDOSTA, Ga., July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — AT&T* has turned on
the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network** in Valdosta, bringing
customers the latest generation of wireless network technology.
Watch here to see several of the benefits AT&T 4G LTE provides,
including:

• Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering mobile
  Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G***. Customers can
  stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.

• Cool new
  devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new
  AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.

• Faster response time. LTE
  technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to
  move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start
  downloading a webpage or file once you’ve sent the request. Lower
  latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video
  calling and telemedicine.

• More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless
  spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more
  efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry
  data traffic and services and to deliver a better network
  experience.

“Wireless infrastructure investment is critical to Georgia’s future
and I am very pleased to see AT&T investing in Valdosta and Lowndes
County and bringing LTE service to our community,” said Andrea
Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Industrial Authority. “Advanced technology like LTE will help
stimulate our economy and provide new tools and services that we
need to compete for business.”

“We continue to see demand for mobile Internet skyrocket, and our 4G
LTE network in Valdosta responds to what customers want from their
mobile experience — more, faster, on the best devices,” said
Courtney Brinson, AT&T Regional Director of External Affairs.

AT&T’s 4G Network

AT&T’s innovation and investment have resulted in the nation’s
largest 4G network, covering more than 292 million people with
ultra-fast speeds and a more consistent user experience. Our 4G LTE
network delivered faster average download and upload speeds than any
of our competitors in PCWorld/TechHive’s most recent 20-market speed
tests.

AT&T’s 4G LTE network delivers speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G,
as well as multiple innovations that optimize the network for
performance. Our network’s radio components are placed close to the
antenna at most cell sites, instead of inside the base station,
which helps minimize power loss between the base station and antenna
and, in turn, improves the performance of our 4G LTE network. The
network also is designed with its core elements distributed across
the country, which helps reduce latency, or the delay when using the
Internet, because your request isn’t traveling as far.

Even as AT&T continues to expand its 4G LTE coverage, customers can
get 4G speeds outside of 4G LTE areas on our 4G HSPA+ network,
unlike some competitors, where smartphone customers may fall back to
slower 3G technologies when outside of LTE coverage.

The PR has more boilerplate about T’s 4G LTE network and about the company.

-jsq