GOV. STRICKLAND, AT&T ANNOUNCE NEW DATA CENTER IN AKRON

AKRON, Ohio, July 7 -- Gov. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, has issued the following news release:

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and AT&T today announced a new mobility data center in Akron, which will provide core mobility network services. The planned $120 million initial investment in this innovative center is driven by growth in mobile data. Strickland and the company made the announcement at an event at the Akron data center.

"Ohio's strong business climate and tax structure makes it easier for companies like AT&T to grow its business here today, and our regulatory reform through Ohio's telecom bill will help us attract investments of the future," Strickland said. "I want to thank AT&T for its partnership and commitment to laying a solid foundation for prosperity in Akron."

The center is an integral part of AT&T's plans to expand 3G service and begin the launch of 4G/LTE services, which is important to providing consumers with the highest quality and most reliable wireless network.

The new center is at the same location as a former Ohio Bell Data Center which opened in 1985 and handled service orders and prepared customer bills. The Akron location has been retrofitted and will accommodate the latest in wireless network technology, once again establishing the building as a model for best-in-class technology centers.

The announcement of the Akron mobility data center establishes a wireless corridor in Ohio for AT&T, with the data center on one end, and the Youngstown mobility customer care center on the other.

"I want to congratulate the work of Governor Strickland who has worked so hard to encourage this type of investment in Akron and Ohio," said Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic.

The Akron site becomes AT&T's ninth mobility data center, which will serve customers across multiple markets, states and regions. All mobility data traffic travels through one or more data centers which provide features such as visual voice mail for the iPhone, Blackberry messaging, text messaging, multimedia messaging, mobile TV and other wireless applications, including access to the internet via AT&T's world-class tier 1 Internet backbone.

"With this new data center, AT&T is investing in the future of Akron and Northeast Ohio," said Congresswoman Betty Sutton. "This 'technology data hub' will help bring other investments to Northeast Ohio, making Akron a high-tech jobs hub."

"The investment in this new mobility data center here in Summit County will help consumers who are increasingly communicating on smartphones through data messaging," said Summit County Executive Russ Pry.

"Governor Strickland deserves to be applauded for his work to encourage investments like this one in Ohio," said Tom Pelto, President of AT&T Ohio. "This investment is also a true testament to the hard work of policy makers to keep our state competitive and well positioned for investment." For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.