AT&T to invest $2B in mobile network

(CNET) -- AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network.
During its fourth quarter 2009 conference call, Chief Operating Officer John Stankey said AT&T plans to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 upgrading its wireless and backhaul networks to handle the onslaught of new traffic. This is roughly $2 billion more than the company had invested in the previous year.
Specifically, Stankey said AT&T will add 2,000 new cell sites and upgrade existing cell sites with three times more fiber links than it had in 2009. This will increase capacity for the backhaul network that connects the cell towers to AT&T's main network. The backhaul portion of the network is a critical component to AT&T's network; with these upgrades in place, Stankey said the company will be able to easily upgrade in the future to 4G wireless technology.
AT&T will begin testing its 4G network using LTE, the same technology Verizon Wireless is using for its 4G network, starting in 2010, with a few commercial deployments ready in 2011 and more commercial deployments in 2012.
AT&T, which is the only wireless operator in the U.S. selling the iPhone, has been the target of much criticism over this past year, as many iPhone subscribers, particularly in densely populated urban areas, have complained about dropped calls, slow Internet access, and poor all around service. Some critics claim the company has not been spending enough on network upgrades to keep up with growing demand.
Stankey acknowledged that AT&T has faced some difficulties, particularly in cities like New York and San Francisco. But he said the company is "closing the gap."
He said there are periods of time during the week in some sections of Manhattan where nearly 70 percent of the phones active on its network are data-intensive devices. He said to deal with this surge in usage, AT&T is increasing 3G radio capacity in those trouble areas by more than one third. The company will also add additional radio network controllers on existing cell sites.

Why Was Haiti Earthquake So Devastating?

Washington ― More than 3 million people in Haiti are estimated to have been affected by the earthquake that struck January 12. Registering at magnitude 7.0, it is the most violent earthquake to hit that island nation in a century. Deaths, injuries and damage are yet to be tallied.
According to experts, magnitude 7 earthquakes ― considered “severe” by seismologists ― occur around the world 12 to 15 times each year. What made the Haiti earthquake especially devastating?
In addition to the magnitude (strength) of an earthquake, an earthquake’s location relative to population centers its depth under the earth are determining factors for the damage that may result, according to Michael Blanpied, associate coordinator of the Earthquake Hazards Program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
In a recorded interview for USGS, Blanpied said the epicenter for the Haiti earthquake was just 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the capitol city of Port-au-Prince, where nearly 1 million people live. He also noted that Haiti, which suffers from widespread poverty, has not constructed many buildings resistant to earthquakes. Compounding the problem, he said, is that the earthquake has been followed by at least six aftershocks of moderate magnitude that have further damaged already weakened buildings and imperiled rescue efforts.
The initial earthquake is estimated to have occurred just 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) under the earth’s surface. Shaking from relatively shallow earthquakes is more severe, Blanpied said. In addition, soft ground amplifies the shaking, which increases the threat of destruction to the buildings above it.
Landslides, which could bury buildings and claim more victims, remain a possibility, Blanpied said. “The only positive thing about this earthquake is that, because it did occur on land, it did not generate a tsunami,” he said. Tsunamis are huge ocean waves capable of traveling miles inland on land masses. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, generated by an undersea earthquake, killed some 300,000 people.
Haiti is no stranger to earthquakes. The nation, which occupies the western part of the island of Hispaniola and is situated between Puerto Rico and Cuba, has experienced numerous slight to moderate earthquakes in the recent past.
“The island is caught between two tectonic plates,” Blanpied explained. “The North America and the Caribbean tectonic plates are sheering the island, crushing it, grinding it. And as that occurs, earthquakes pop off. … This is quite an earthquake-prone region.”
According to the USGS, at least 1,783 deaths worldwide resulted from earthquake activity in 2009. The deadliest earthquake of that year was a magnitude 7.5 event that killed approximately 1,117 people in southern Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 30. The most powerful earthquake for 2009 ― registering at magnitude 8.1 ― occurred September 29 in the Samoa Islands region. The tsunami it generated killed 192 people.
More information about earthquakes is available at the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Web site.