AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) kept with an annual tradition today, announcing a "nearly" $1 billion investment in technology for enterprise customers. (See AT&T Makes Annual $1B Enterprise Plan.)

The investment has been an annual occurrence since 2008, but the difference this time is that AT&T is targeting cloud services, mobile applications and devices, small business services, the health-care industry and global network consistency for its enterprise dollars, which are part of the $19 billion capital investment already announced by the company

Past priorities have included: subsea cables, MPLS nodes, video gear, and hosting capabilities (2008); network-based applications, mobile apps for businesses, the integration of IBM's global network operations and its global network in general (2009); and cloud services, mobile applications and small business bandwidth (2010).

Why this matters
The investment dollars are a relatively small part of the overall spend and clearly aren't growing, but the annual announcement reflects AT&T's priority for its enterprise business. And this year's announcement shows those priorities aren't changing much either, with the exception of the health-care focus. This is the first time AT&T has singled out a single specific industry vertical for investment, although it has mentioned spending on verticals in the past.

For more
Here's a look at past AT&T investment reports:

• AT&T's $1B Global Capex Pledge
• O2 Ireland Trials Mobile TV
• AT&T Claims to Be a Femtocell Big Spender
• Court Finds for Huawei vs Moto
• Priority Care: AT&T Takes On Healthcare IT

— Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading