As part of AT&T’s announcement today regarding plans to boost the speed of its wireless 3G network, the company said it will spend between $17 billion and $18 billion this year on infrastructure, of which more than two-thirds will go towards broadband and wireless. Release.

Clearly, the second-largest U.S. carrier is willing to invest heavily to resolve the network problems that subscribers have been complaining about recently. However, its not going to be a quick fix. AT&T (NYSE: T) said the higher-speed technology, called HSPA 7.2, will be turned on in six major U.S. cities this year, including Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami. By the end of 2010, the company plans to have the technology live in 25 of the largest markets, and by the end of 2011, it will reach about 90 percent of its existing 3G network.

Other initiatives underway include: expanding the wireless spectrum serving 3G customers in hundreds of markets across the country, using 850 MHz spectrum; the addition of about 2,000 new cell sites in 2009; enabling access to the company’s Wi-Fi network of more than 20,000 hotspots; and preparing for field trials of 4G LTE wireless networks next year, with deployment planned to follow in 2011.