AT&T begins refarming 2G spectrum in New York City AT&T Continues To Focus On New York City Wireless Experience Re-allocation of Network Resources Helps Improve Customers' Wireless Experience

AT&T begins refarming 2G spectrum in New York City

As mobile operators continue to move toward the promised land known as "the future," it grows ever more important for them to make some room for it. AT&T announced today that it has started the process of refarming its 2G 1900MHz spectrum in New York City, which should alleviate some of the growing demand on the carrier's 3G and 4G networks within the city. AT&T isn't volunteering specific details on how long the transition will take, and it's only saying that the freed-up bandwidth will be used for high-speed services. There are still plenty of customers on 2G-only devices that will be affected by the transition -- they may still have service for now, but it will likely degrade as the process goes forward -- but the company is reaching out to them and offering alternative options, such as free 3G-capable phones. Let's just hope those don't come with fresh contracts attached. Drift your eyes below for the full press release.Show full PR text

AT&T Continues To Focus On New York City Wireless Experience

Re-allocation of Network Resources Helps Improve Customers' Wireless Experience

NEW YORK, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- AT&T* has set the pace, delivering the mobile Internet to more smartphone customers than any other U.S. provider. In addition to voice calling, AT&T customers are connecting to the mobile Internet more every day, using smartphones, tablets and other networked devices to access apps and the web to manage their personal and business affairs.

To meet that exploding demand and enhance call quality and data speed, AT&T is re-allocating some radio frequency, or bandwidth, from its 2G to its more advanced 3G and 4G networks in New York City.

"Dedicating more capacity to our advanced wireless networks will help more of our customers in New York City have a better experience overall," said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manager for AT&T in New York and New Jersey. "By re-allocating network resources from our 2G network to support our newer, advanced networks, we're moving capacity to support the voice and mobile internet services our customers want."

This will help customers have an even better overall experience with both voice and the mobile Internet. AT&T has been proactively reaching out to affected customers who use 2G devices in New York City to provide them with more details and a variety of options for upgrading their devices, including discounts on new ones while keeping their mobile numbers. AT&T is encouraging customers to make the move to a better overall experience.