AT&T mobile broadband customers are increasingly using the the AT&T
network. AT&T
reported that its customers made a record 85.5 million
connections to the Internet in 2009 using AT&T Wi-Fi network,
four times the number of Wi-Fi connections made in 2008.
In the fourth quarter 2009, customers made 35.3 million Wi-Fi connections - up 10 million connections from the third quarter of 2009. Fourth quarter connections also surpassed the number of connections made in the entire first half of 2009.
AT&T,
expects Wi-Fi usage to continue to surge as more customers utilize
Wi-Fi on their smartphones and integrated devices and have Wi-Fi
included with their service.
Smartphones and integrated devices accounted for 72
percent of fourth-quarter connections and 61 percent of the total
connections in 2009.
AT&T offers Wi-Fi for more than 27
million customers - as of third quarter 2009 - with AT&T High Speed
Internet, AT&T U-verse(SM) High Speed Internet, and qualifying
smartphone and 3G LaptopConnect plans. Those customers have convenient
access at AT&T's more than 20,000 U.S. hotspots.
A
recent AT&T survey found that 43 percent of AT&T Wi-Fi users
said they accessed an AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spot four or more times in the
past 30 days