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AT&T Inc., Dallas, TX: AT&T Small Cells

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2014 American Business Awards

Company: AT&T Inc., Dallas, TX
Company Description: AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet with the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.
Nomination Category: Products & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Telecommunications - Product

Nomination Title: AT&T Small Cells

1. Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 525 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and performance to date:

The latest solution in the next-generation toolkit, AT&T small cells area resourceful network solution that is providing customers with flexible coverage where it is needed most. Small cells are enhancing the AT&T customer experience and helping meet customers’ explosive demand for mobile data. In the past seven years, mobile data traffic on AT&T’s wireless network has increased more 50,000 percent. To keep pace with this explosive growth, in November of 2012, AT&T announced plans to “densify” its wireless network as part of Project Velocity IP (VIP), which is helping to further increase spectrum efficiency and improve network quality by strengthening existing coverage areas.

A key component of AT&T’s Project VIP investment plan is the deployment of tens of thousands of small cells by year-end 2015. A cost-effective solution to enhance the targeted areas that are difficult for the macro network to reach, small cells accommodate various needs, and can be deployed indoors and outdoors, and with simple IP connectivity and the ability to use multiple types of backhaul for support, small cells can typically be installed with relative ease in a couple of days or less. AT&T’s small cell technology is already integrated into its core network infrastructure, enabling the flexibility needed to serve customers’ voice and data needs. AT&T small cell solutions are also able to take advantage of a wide variety of backhaul options, such as fiber, U-Verse, microwave, copper and more.

Taking it one step further, AT&T small cells incorporate aspects of AT&T’s Self Optimizing Network (SON) technology – a spectrum-efficient, intelligent network-management technology that detects when too many users are connected to a single cell tower when neighboring towers could serve the same calls or data usage. The technology performs automatic, real-time network adjustments that have the potential to reduce dropped calls, improve throughput speeds and enhance the overall customer experience. Deployed in every AT&T market across the country, AT&T is believed to have the largest national SON deployment in the world. By integrating SON’s capabilities into small cells, AT&T SON is able to seamlessly utilize the coverage and capacity offered by small cells as it optimizes the network to create the best customer experience.

Additionally, AT&T took initiative in exploring the science behind how small cells interwork with existing cell sites. As a result, AT&T Labs developed the innovative HetNet Analysis and Resource Planning (HARP) tool. This AT&T-proprietary technology uses state-of-the-art radio propagation and mathematical programming models to determine optimal locations to place small cells, allowing the technology to be more quickly and efficiently deployed.

Helping lead the mobile industry through its strategic vision of small cell deployment, AT&T small cells are up and running on the network in 18 states and in corporate high-rise, outdoor and indoor locations. While customers won’t notice where they’re located or when one is powering their mobile device, the impact small cells have on the network is huge – providing faster downloads and better voice quality.

AT&T recently received a Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award for the densification of its network coverage via its small cell deployment strategy.

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2. Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

John Donovan, senior executive vice president of AT&T Technology and Network Operations, is responsible for the operations of AT&T's technology and global network, including the company's mobile broadband network. After joining AT&T six years ago, Donovan assembled a team of 16 to enhance and accelerate the company’s ability to innovate. This led to the inception of AT&T’s innovation ecosystem, consisting of five AT&T Foundry innovation centers worldwide, The Innovation Pipeline, AT&T Labs and the AT&T Developer Program. Through Donovan’s work, AT&T has deployed more than 100 active projects via the AT&T Foundry, generated more than 25,000 ideas from employees through The Innovation Pipeline, produced eight Nobel prizes from the AT&T Labs, created more than 1,000 prototypes of apps, and more.