AT&T's third-generation (3G) wireless service is now available in Chattanooga, AT&T officials said Thursday.

Gregg Morton, president, AT&T Tennessee, said with the service, "You can watch video on the go, surf the wireless Internet at lightning speed or share live video during a wireless call."

AT&T announced the launch of the company's 3G wireless network in Chattanooga, offering consumers and businesses "broadband-like speed and access to the latest interactive voice, video and data applications."

"New and better technologies truly help drive the growth and vibrancy of Hamilton County," said County Mayor Claude Ramsey. "I would like to thank AT&T for their continued investment in our communities and for bringing 3G to our residents."

Officials said AT&T's 3G network "opens the door to a new era of mobile services, devices and feature-rich audio and video content, including the simultaneous sharing of voice and live video. This rapidly expanding network, combined with an ever-expanding lineup of 3G devices including the new iPhone 3G that will be available July 11, gives AT&T customers in Chattanooga the best in mobile communications."

"At AT&T, our mission is to connect people where they live and work and do it better than anyone else," said Mr. Morton. "The expansion of 3G service in Chattanooga is another great example of AT&T's commitment to deliver the most advanced communications capabilities to our customers in the city of Chattanooga.

"This launch is the result of AT&T's continued investment in expanding wireless coverage acrossTennessee."

He said many of AT&T's 3G devices support AT&T Video Share(SM), a first-of-its-kind service in the U.S. that enables users to share live video while carrying on a voice call - providing a new way to share personal moments and key events beyond the capabilities of voice, text and photos.

AT&T's 3G customers can also view razor-sharp video clips through CV, an on-demand streaming video service that offers a comprehensive library of mobile video content from CNN, FOX News, ABC Mobile, CBS Mobile, NBC, ESPN, The Weather Channel, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, "American Idol," HBO Mobile and more, officials said.

In the past 10 years, AT&T's planned investment in its wireless and wired networks in Tennessee has exceeded $3 billion. In February, AT&T announced a planned investment of more than $60 million in the Tennessee network to expand wireless coverage.

With the addition of Chattanooga, the AT&T 3G network is now available in more than 280 U.S. major metropolitan areas.

The company will deliver 3G service to nearly 350 leading U.S. markets by the end of 2008, including all of the top 100 U.S. cities, it was stated.

"The launch of our 3G wireless network is an example of AT&T's commitment to ensuring that our customers inChattanooga have the latest in wireless technology available, allowing them to access video, graphics, pictures, downloads, e-mail and more at speeds faster than ever before," said Jim Thorpe, vice president and general manager of wireless operations for Tennessee and Kentucky. "Our goal is to ensure that AT&T customers in Chattanooga have the very best wireless experience possible - which includes unmatched coverage and quality of service."

Other plans for 2008 include the completion of the nation's first High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)-enabled network by the middle of the year. The AT&T 3G network now delivers typical downlink speeds ranging between 700 Kbps (kilobits per second) and 1.7 Mbps (megabits per second), and it will now offer faster uplink speeds ranging between 500 Kbps and 1.2 Mbps. The faster uplink speeds allow AT&T's HSUPA-enabled laptop users to quickly send large files and take full advantage of the latest Internet and business applications, officials said.

The 3G network inChattanooga will launch with HSUPA technology. This year's HSUPA deployment in all 3G markets will complete the transition of the AT&T 3G network to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) standards, marking the only full transition by any wireless provider inthe United States to this latest generation of wireless broadband capabilities, it was stated.

The AT&T 3G network also offers AT&T LaptopConnect mobile customers broadband speeds for laptops, with the ability to access the Internet, their company's intranet or corporate e-mail from anywhere within the 3G network.

The company's wireless network is based on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technologies, described as "the most open and widely used wireless network platform in the world, supporting more than 87 percent of the people worldwide who use wireless devices. AT&T can connect customers in more than 200 countries for voice calling, and users have data-roaming capabilities in more than 145 countries for data access."