Wireless service expanded in Balboa Park and Uptown
AT&T today announced network upgrade plans designed to enable 4G speeds and enhanced reliability to San Diego and surrounding communities. The wireless network enhancement plans are part of AT&T’s planned $19 billion investment in its wireless and wireline networks and other capital projects
underway this year. According to Ignacio De La Torre, executive director of AT&T External Affairs, “The improvement impacting our neighborhoods the most include deploying and upgrading Distributed Antenna System (DAS) networks at key areas like Balboa Park and in other high-traffic areas; to enhance network coverage during events; and provide enhanced wireless coverage to customers in indoor or outdoor spaces where geographical limitations might otherwise prevent an optimal wireless experience.”
A DAS installation consists of several strategically placed antennas that distribute AT&T’s wireless network coverage throughout the area, providing for more efficient management of wireless capacity in heavily trafficked areas. The nation’s fastest mobile broadband network is getting faster with 4G. As the executive director of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, David A. Lang said, “AT&T’s significant investment to improve its network will further bolster San Diego’s reputation as a great place to live and work. High-tech expansions like this one help our cultural and business community, our local economy and our overall quality of life.”
HillQuest publisher Nancy Moors said, “Our HillQuest office is within a block of Hillcrest’s AT&T site which has been a primary location of telecommunications equipment since 1915 when Pacific Bell & Telephone opened an exchange center to handle all of our city’s long distance calls. Operators then routed all calls by hand at large banks of switchboards. Today AT&T continues to be our neighbor and has launched the latest in technology that will provide our small business many of the same advantages as large corporations. Additonally, our goal as co-founders of the Hillcrest History Guild, is to establish a walk though our historic neighborhood using the G4 network and QR codes which will allow locals and tourists alike the ability to read information on their cell phone as they take a self-guided tour throughout the neighborhood.”
