AT&T celebrates Lawton project

Calling the need for high-speed internet critical to a community, AT&T celebrated its efforts to bring just that to Lawton during a ribbon-cutting with the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce on Friday in Greer Park.

Steve Hahn, AT&T president of Central States, said that high-speed internet is available to 1,600 homes in Lawton and “we are just getting started.”

“This is an infrastructure project,” he said of miles of cable that are being installed.

District 63 State Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton, stressed the importance of the expansion of high-speed internet in Oklahoma. He said high-speed internet will “do the same thing to revolutionize our economy like electrification did. We are really talking about economic development.”

Caldwell serves as co-chairman of the American Rescue Plan Act and chairman of the House Utilities committees.

Continuing the economic development theme, Lawton Mayor Stan Booker said high-speed internet expansion will open up commerce and the entrepreneurial spirit of the younger generation.

“We are working on having fiber in every home,” Booker said.

Hahn said the Lawton project is part of AT&T’s $800 million investment in high-speed internet in Oklahoma, but he did not know how much of that will be spent in Lawton.

“This is a multi-year project,” he said of Lawton. “Our goal is to make it available to as many people as possible.”

Hahn also touted AT&T’s Affordable Connectivity Program which provides eligible households with a benefit of up to $30 a month (up to $75 a month on qualifying tribal lands) to reduce the cost of broadband service.

AT&T joins Bluepeak and Dobson Fiber in offering high-speed internet service in Lawton.