AT&T has invested more than $6.8 billion in its California wireless and wireline networks from 2009 through 2011 with a focus on improving the company’s mobile broadband coverage and overall performance of its networks.

During 2011, AT&T made nearly 7,500 wireless network upgrades in four key categories in California. These enhancements include:

    --  Activating more than 120 new cell sites or towers to improve network
        coverage.
    --  Deploying faster fiber-optic connections to nearly 2,850 cell sites.
        Combined with HSPA+ technology, these deployments enable 4G speeds**.
    --  Adding capacity, or an extra layer of frequency to cell sites - like
        adding lanes to a highway - with the addition of nearly 4,200 of these
        layers, or "carriers".
    --  Upgrading more than 300 cell sites to provide fast mobile broadband
        speeds.

AT&T also launched its new 4G LTE network in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Los Angeles and in San Diego on January 5.

“Our goal is to deliver a network experience that mobilizes everything for customers.” – Fred Devereux AT&T Region President – West.

“The ongoing investment we’re making in California is designed to increase coverage and reliability, and to provide advanced services to our customers. Paired with our recent launch of our 4G LTE network in the Bay Area, in Los Angeles and in San Diego, customers can use wireless technology to its full potential,” he added.

CNN Money recently recognized AT&T for enhancing its wireless network. Last year, AT&T completed 150,000 network enhancements across the country, more than triple the year before, giving customers more capacity and faster speeds, as well as improving 3G dropped-call performance by 25 percent.

“To stay connected with friends, family and business, Californians use wireless communications now more than ever before.”  - Gene Hale Chair Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce (GLAAAC)

“I applaud AT&T’s continued investment to its wireless network and commitment to the communication needs of California’s residents and businesses,” Hale stated.

AT&T plans to support the build or upgrade of thousands of cell sites nationwide to increase network speed, coverage and reliability for both mobile voice and broadband services. In addition, AT&T plans to install additional radio “carriers” at thousands of cell sites nationally, enabling new layers of spectrum capacity to carry larger volumes of mobile broadband traffic. Additional capacity helps support rising mobile data traffic volumes, which continue to increase at a rapid pace.

In 2012, AT&T plans to double its 4G LTE coverage.

AT&T operates the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network*** with nearly 30,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to nearly 190,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn’t count against customers’ monthly wireless data plans.

http://focus.att.com/dfw and http://focus.att.com/houston.

For more information about AT&T’s coverage in California or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. Using the online tool, AT&T customers can measure quality of coverage from a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.

For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

**4G speeds delivered by HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. Available in limited areas. Availability increasing with ongoing backhaul deployment. 4G device required. Learn more at att.com/network.

*** Largest based on company branded and operated hotspots. Access includes AT&T Wi-Fi Basic. A Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for details and locations.

Popularity: 11% [?]

NASA is enabling biomedical research with National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants that take advantage of the unique microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station to explore fundamental questions about important health issues.

The NIH Biomedical Research on the International Space Station (BioMed-ISS) awards are the next step in a new partnership to apply the national laboratory to research that complements NASA’s own space studies. The NIH studies include research on how bones and the immune system weaken in space.

“This marks the beginning of a new era in microgravity-based research with the International Space Station turning the corner from construction to use as a new national laboratory,” said Mark Uhran, assistant associate administrator for space station, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

In 2005 Congress recognized the immense promise the station holds for U.S.-led science and technology efforts. It opened the U.S. portion of the facility to federal agencies, university and private sector researchers by designating the station as a national laboratory. In addition to NIH, NASA has similar research agreements with the Departments of Defense, Agriculture and Energy and the National Science Foundation.

Scientists will conduct their experiments under a two-stage mechanism. The first is a ground-based preparatory phase to allow investigators to meet select milestones and technical requirements. The second is an experimental phase on the space station that will include preparing the experiments for launch, working with astronauts to conduct them on orbit and performing subsequent data analyses on Earth.

“BioMed-ISS offers a novel opportunity for gaining scientific insights that would not otherwise be possible through ground-based means,” said Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and NIH liaison to NASA. “The beauty of this initiative is that it offers an unprecedented opportunity for benefitting human health on earth, while leveraging the American public’s investment in the ISS.”

NIH is hosting three rounds of competition for the initiative. The first round of grants for the ground-based phase, totaling an estimated $1,323,000, with one award to San Diego.

Declan McCole, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego was awarded a grant for his research.

The movement of toxins from intestines to other organs in the body is a major source of illness in the United States. A major factor in disease stems from the ability of toxins to compromise the natural barrier function of cells in the gastrointestinal tract.

Using microgravity based three-dimensional cell culture models, McCole plans to generate insights regarding the barrier properties of the intestines, and explore how the absence of gravity affects a toxin’s ability to diminish this barrier.

For more information about NIH and NASA activities, visit:

http://www.niams.nih.gov/News_and_Events/NIH_NASA_Activities/

For information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about NIH and its programs, visit:

http://www.nih.gov

Popularity: 28% [?]