AT&T fixed wireless services for rural markets launched in Georgia, the company announced today. The 10 Mbps fixed wireless service will serve 400K locations by the end of the year, and 1.1 million locations across 17 additional states by 2020.
The fixed wireless service will help AT&T achieve their FCC Connect America Fund (CAF) commitment for rural and underserved locations. The other states include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
AT&T has previously announced their intention to used fixed wireless to reach areas that are “uneconomical” to reach by wireline broadband methods. The 10 Mbps tier is the lowest required to receive CAF support.
“We’re committed to utilizing available technologies to connect hard-to-reach locations,” said Eric Boyer, senior vice president, Wireless and Wired Product Marketing at AT&T in a press release.
AT&T Fixed Wireless Pricing
The fixed wireless service will have broadband usage caps of 160 GB per month, with additional 50 GB increments of data charged at $10 per month, an AT&T spokesperson revealed to Telecompetitor. AT&T also intends to offer bundling options in addition to the $60 per month broadband only service (the price rises to $70 with no contract).
Both DIRECTV and wireless can be bundled with the broadband service, lowering the monthly cost to $50, with a one year contract. There will be a $99 installation fee that can be waived if bundled with DIRECTV.
The AT&T spokesperson could not confirm what spectrum is being used for the deployment.
beats satellite internet. Still disappointing for the time we have waited.