AT&T has been the punchline of many jokes recently.
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Randall Stephenson, Chairman, President and CEO of AT&T, Inc.
In response, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC, "when you load this network up, it's stressed in a couple of markets. So we've been working to get the voice quality back in shape and we've actually done that in New York."
Stephenson said the service issues stem from exploding "data volumes," which are up 5000 percent in three years.
To combat this traffic, AT&T will invest "$19 billion this year, more than any company in the U.S.," he said to upgrade its network.
"We made a huge bet on mobile broadband, to create what we think is the best," Stephenson said.
So when you go out five years, Stephenson expects AT&T to be the "number one mobile broadband business in the United States, probably one of the top in the world."
Although AT&T service has been lagging, if Stepheson's prediction proves correct than he will certainly be the one having the last laugh.
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Programming note: "The Strategy Session," hosted by David Faber and Gary Kaminsky, airs weekdays at Noon ET on CNBC.
