Several network initiatives that AT&T is unveiling this week show the carrier is far from finished advancing its network even as it achieves a broad footprint with LTE.
The company plans to roll out LTE Broadcast technology over the next three years to help it deliver specialized content in specific locations, among other things, Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson told a Goldman Sachs financial conference on Tuesday morning. In the same session, he laid out AT&T's goal to convert its whole infrastructure into a system based on LTE, IP (Internet Protocol) and cloud computing, replacing traditional copper phone lines by 2020.
On Monday, AT&T signaled a commitment to SDN (software-defined networking) and NFV (network functions virtualization), including seeking out some technology vendors with new ideas. And in a nod to the potential of unlicensed Wi-Fi networks, on Tuesday it announced a partnership with Fon to expand international Wi-Fi roaming.
LTE officially stands for Long-Term Evolution, and the global standard is itself evolving into upcoming versions that will allow for features such as combining separate frequency bands into one. But AT&T, like other carriers, is also continuing to find ways to make its network more efficient and better able to handle mobile data demand that Stephenson said is rising by about 50 percent every year.
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