AT&T deployed its 2,000th alternative fuel vehicle and 1,500th compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle in its corporate vehicle fleet July 14, making it one of the largest CNG vehicle fleets in the U.S.

AT&T currently ranks No.1 on Automotive Fleet's 2010 Top 300 Commercial Fleets listing and #20 on the Top 50 Green Fleets for 2010, published earlier this year. The AT&T corporate fleet currently totals more than 75,900 vehicles, according to the company.

The milestones are part of a $565 million planned investment announced in March 2009 to replace more than 15,000 fleet vehicles with alternative-fuel models through 2018.

AT&T anticipates purchasing approximately 8,000 CNG vehicles over a five-year span, at an anticipated cost of $350 million. AT&T expects to spend an additional $215 million through 2018 to replace 7,100 fleet passenger cars with alternative-fuel models. 

According to the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), AT&T's alternative fuel vehicle initiative will:

• Save 49 million gallons of gasoline over the 10-year deployment period.

• Reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons- the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing 147,929 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.

"To continue making progress, we are working with our suppliers and local municipalities to encourage the expansion of support infrastructure, which would allow the introduction of more fuel-efficient vehicles in communities around the U.S.," said Jerome Webber, vice president, AT&T Fleet Operations.