By Pamela Lackey | Enabling connections that improve people’s lives is AT&T’s focus and commitment, and has been since our earliest days as a company.
Our goal has always been to provide the services that make a difference for South Carolinians, whether that meant completing voice calls made from a phone equipped with a rotary dial and bolted to the wall, or delivering information and opportunities via mobile broadband connections.
Now the Internet of Things (IoT), one of the fastest-growing technology trends in the world, is on the horizon. In the IoT, all types of devices and machines are connected and “talking” to one another. For example:
- Your car contacts your air conditioning system to begin lowering the temperature 15 minutes before you arrive home;
- Sensors in the lawn activate irrigation systems based on moisture in the soil, rather than at a pre-set time; and
- Navigation systems provide alternate routing when traffic accidents delay package delivery.
Just as the Internet transformed how we live and work, the IoT is driving the next wave of innovation. With IoT solutions, you will be able to connect and monitor assets from virtually anywhere for almost any industry, including: automotive, aviation, energy, healthcare, transportation and logistics and more.
At AT&T, IoT innovation is part of what we do every day. We pioneered mobile technology to change the way people live, work and play. And we strive to extend connectivity to all facets of your life, including home, business and car.
Fully realizing the potential of the IoT requires a robust communications network that integrates both wireless and wired technologies. In order to meet that need, AT&T invested more than $875 million in its best-in-class wireless and wired networks in South Carolina between 2012 and 2014, driving a wide range of upgrades to reliability, coverage, speed and performance for residents and business customers.
As part of this investment, in 2014 AT&T made 289 network upgrades in South Carolina, including 63 new cell sites; 183 network connection upgrades; and 43 new capacity upgrades. While much of the work involved wireless technology, we also invested heavily in enhancing and updating the wired network, which is essential for each wireless call.
Our investments were scattered throughout the state, in both rural and urban areas. During this three-year period, we invested more than $250 million in the Columbia metro area, nearly $150 million in the Upstate and more than $120 million in the Lowcountry.
This level of investment is possible because our state’s leaders evaluate and update South Carolina’s rules and policies to ensure they remain appropriate for the marketplace. Our goal – appropriately and consistently – is to keep South Carolinians connected, while also encouraging investment in the technologies that citizens and businesses need for success in a global economy.
As the industry continues to evolve, and new technologies and communications solutions like IOT possibilities emerge, we are optimistic that policymakers here in South Carolina will continue to embrace that forward-looking approach and understanding that communications is a driver of economic growth.
In Washington, the FCC plans to regulate broadband and wireless under statutory provisions originally developed nearly a century ago to govern the monopoly-era telephone system. I am proud that South Carolinians are among the Federal lawmakers who are advocating for Congress to take the lead in establishing policies appropriate for the Internet of Things.
Innovation and creativity are key elements of today’s economy, creating new jobs and new connections between people and opportunities. We look forward to continuing to deliver the technology and solutions to make that possible.
Pamela Lackey is the president of AT&T–South Carolina.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!