According to a Wednesday statement by bigwig US wireless carrier AT&T, a 16 percent increase in annual capital spending - to a massive $22 billion per year - is being planned by the company for upgrading its networks in the coming three-year period.

As per the announcement of the yearly capital-spending boost by AT&T, the increased allocation of $22 billion will help the company perk up its wireline and wireless networks; thereby leading to potential revenue growth to enable it to explore new opportunities, such as wireless technologies for cars and home security.

The capital-spending boost announced by AT&T is a strategic move by the company, so as to offer more substantial competition to rival Verizon Wireless which already has its network-upgrading process underway. The allocation of the new yearly spending will chiefly allow AT&T to tackle its aging, now-outdated copper phone lines in rural areas.

Though AT&T was initially mulling the option of selling off a few components of its rural phone lines, the carrier's announcement about the increased capital spending is apparently a more attractive alternative than either selling off the business or cutting down the capacity of other networks.

About AT&T's decision to boost its yearly capital spending, CEO Randall Stephenson told analysts during an AT&T event in New York: "This gives us the opportunity to improve our top-line growth and change our cost structure."