7:15pm | Wireless service provider AT&T announced Tuesday that it has completed a number of upgrades to its network in Long Beach and that the company has plans this year to provide area customers faster speeds, increased reliability and best-in-class wireless service.

Among the recently-completed enhancements is an upgraded, full-macro cell site on Marina Drive near the Alamitos Bay landing featuring 12 antennas pointing in all directions to provide customers with mobile broadband coverage, according to information provided by an AT&T spokeswoman. 

Mobile broadband capacity has been boosted at more than 60 cell sites citywide via the addition of new layers of frequency, which the spokeswoman said will more efficiently manage the available spectrum. 

The company has also deployed evolved high speed packet access, also referred to as HSPA+, to 100 percent of its mobile broadband network in Long Beach. This, the spokeswoman said, enables 4G speeds when combined with enhanced Ethernet connectivity to the cell site. AT&T plans to deploy those Ethernet connections between cell sites in Long Beach and the wireless switch in Los Angeles later this year.

These efforts to improve service come just four months following AT&T’s being rated as the worst service provider in December by Consumer Reports, which gave it a 60 out of 100 possible points based on a survey of 58,000 consumers. It ranked lowest in all categories used to compile the ratings, including voice and data service as well as in all areas of customer service.

In a prepared statement, Andy Shibley, AT&T’s vice president and general manager for the greater Los Angeles area, said that the company is focused on improving its wireless service for Long Beach residents.

“We’re investing in our Long Beach network to help AT&T customers take advantage of the numerous capabilities of their smartphones and tablets,” he said. “This year, we’re committed to providing best-in-class wireless voice service to our customers, and we’re backing that up with the right network enhancements.”

The company’s network does provide users with a number of perks, according to information provided by the spokeswoman. These include the ability to talk and surf the web simultaneously, as well as voice service in more than 220 countries and data service in more than 200 countries. She said AT&T’s mobile broadband network is also up to 35 percent faster than its largest competitor’s CDMA-based network, on average, nationwide. 

In stark contrast to the December 2010 Consumer Reports rating, Business Traveler magazine recently named AT&T for the fourth time as having the “Best Mobile Coverage in the World,” the spokeswoman said.

The company recently reached out to the community, contributing $10,000 to the Long Beach Community Actin Partnership. The funds were used to cover costs associated with the services the group provides to low-income youth in developing educational strategies and career options to successfully graduate and attend college.

Additional information about AT&T’s coverage in Long Beach or anywhere else in the United States, visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer by clicking here, where users can measure coverage quality by inputting a street address, intersection, ZIP code or landmark.