The US telecommunications provider AT&T has unveiled an investment plan that will see the company invest $8 to $8.5 in mostly Europe.

The provider is planning to introduce a new Metro Ethernet service in 12 European countries including the UK, France and Germany. The service promises connection speeds of up to 100 Mbps and is targeted at densely populated areas.

The company is also slated to expand access to its Wi-Fi service through a new partnership with WeRoam , an international roaming network, that gives customers access to 5,500 additional access points. The deal grows AT&T's worldwide Wi-Fi network to 24,000 locations of which 8,000 are in Europe.

AT&T furthermore plans to build out its DSL offerings for businesses and service providers, and is preparing to in the coming months expand its DSL network to Greece and Ireland.

The provider lastly plans to add additional backbone network interconnections to its Nordic network, similar to the interconnections it has in the UK and other European countries. The expansion will increase regional coverage for the provider, allowing it to improve its overall service level, increase guaranteed network speeds and lower its prices.

"A $8.5 billion global investment plan over 2006 should finally put that to rest," Dustin Kehoe, a senior analyst for telecom services with Current Analysis, wrote in a research note.

The telecommunications provider last year was acquired by SBC, one of the so-called Baby Bells. The deal gave rise to concern over the firm's international strategy.

The new investments will mainly allow the company to catch up with competitors including BT, COLT and Verizon Business, Kehoe pointed out.

"The market is already expecting a lot of announcements and is waiting to see the proof of deployment before it gets overly excited."

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