Network construction and upgrades along U.S. highways 43 and 80 will soon bring AT&T’s 3G wireless network to Marengo County.

Sue Perry, an AT&T spokesperson, said the company currently has upwards of 14 new cites planned for construction in the area with even more upgrades to existing cites that service the county and its communities.

She anticipates many of them coming on-line by the summer.

“This is an expansion we plan for the third-quarter of this year,” she said noting that several local cites are already under construction. “That would put some of them beginning to come on-line by the summer and that would continue until it’s been completed by the end of the calendar year.”

3G technology is the third generation of wireless technologies. It comes with enhancements over previous wireless technologies, like high-speed transmission, advanced multimedia access and global roaming. 3G is mostly used with mobile phones and handsets as a means to connect the phone to the Internet or other IP networks in order to make voice and video calls, to download and upload data and to surf the net.

“This year, we’re implementing 3G heavily in Alabama,” Perry said. “We will construct upwards of 75 new sites and have more than 250 upgrades planned.”

Among the new 3G cites planned in the coming weeks are Thomaston, Sweet Water, Gallion, Myrtlewod, Linden and Forkland. Existing Demopolis towers will be upgraded to 3G capacity.

“When this is complete, Marengo County will have full continuous 3G coverage,” Perry said. “Demopolis is actually one of the more robust areas that we’re working to build 3G coverage in.”