AT&T: New Wi-Fi at Turner Field, more high-speed capacity for metro area.

By Margaret Newkirk

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A few months ago, AT&T put new antennas at Turner Field to make it easier for its customers to use wireless devices in the middle of game day crowds.

Now it's installing Wi-Fi capability there, too. The service is free to everyone, spokeswoman Dawn Benton said.

The announcement was one of several planned 2011 improvements that Atlanta-based AT&T Mobility unveiled on Tuesday. The others were geared toward preparing AT&T to launch faster, more reliable 4G service later this year.

Competitors Verizon and Clearwire have already launched 4G here. Verizon did it in December. Clearwire did so a year ago.

Verizon said it doesn't need Wi-Fi at Turner because it already has the 4G network there. It also plans to have the same additional antenna system there as AT&T by opening day.

AT&T plans to beef up capacity at 450 cell towers and add spectrum to 610 cell towers in metro Atlanta in 2011. The company spent $2 billion on its regional network since 2008, it said.

The company had experienced service problems in metro areas across the country, largely attributed to the demands from the i-Phone, which was exclusively served by AT&T until this year.