OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2015. For the fourth year in a row AT&T* finished atop the Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI) list of U.S. Investment Heroes. The annual study recognizes the top 25 American companies investing in the United States. As with last year’s report, this year’s report, U.S. Investment Heroes of 2015: Why Innovation Drives Investment, found telecom and cable companies to be the strongest sector for domestic capital spending, with AT&T leading the pack.

AT&T has a long track record of domestic investment. Over the past six years (2009-2014), the company has invested more in the U.S. economy than any other public company. AT&T’s total investment during this time, including acquisitions of spectrum and wireless operations totals nearly \\$140 billion, with \\$21.4 billion invested in 2014 alone. And AT&T expects to invest in the \\$21 billion range in 2015.

“We’re honored to be recognized by the PPI again for our steadfast commitment to investing in the United States,” said John Stephens, CFO of AT&T. “We invest because it’s the right thing to do for our customers and shareholders. Our investments help us maintain our world-class networks and meet ever-increasing demand for high speed Internet. At the same time, our investments help generate economic growth and jobs across the country.”

AT&T’s 2015 investment initiatives include:

  • A multiyear plan to expand the company’s all-fiber broadband network to 14 million customer locations.
  • Deliver Internet speeds of 45 megabits or higher to more than 27 million customer locations within four years.
  • Continued investment in AT&T’s wireless network to meet growing demand for wireless Internet services, especially video. Some projections estimate that wireless data traffic will increase ten-fold by 2020.

* 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.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high speed Internet and voice services. We’re the world’s largest provider of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. In the U.S., our wireless network offers the nation’s strongest LTE signal and the most reliable 4G LTE network. We offer the best global wireless coverage*. And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with our mobility and secure cloud solutions.

Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

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Reliability and signal strength claims based on nationwide carriers’ LTE. Signal strength claim based ONLY on avg. LTE signal strength. LTE not available everywhere.

*Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; voice roaming; and world-capable smartphone and tablets in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier. Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update or revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.