Verizon Wireless has spent $145
million during the first six months of the year to enhance wireless
services and coverage throughout the six states of New England, elevating
the cumulative network investment in the region to more than $2 billion
since year 2000. Nationally the company invests more than $1 billion every
90 days to stay ahead of the growing demand for Verizon Wireless voice and
data services. The company's ongoing network investment now totals more
than $40 billion nationally over the past seven years.
As part of its regional network investment during the first half of the
year, the company added new cell sites to enhance coverage and capacity and
continued to upgrade its high-speed Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO)
wireless network with Revision A technology. Rev. A is now available
throughout portions of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island and Vermont. As a result, the company's flagship wireless
Internet service, BroadbandAccess, allows customers to send large files
with attachments 5-6 times faster than before the network enhancements were
completed.
BroadbandAccess customers with Rev. A-compatible devices can expect
average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits
per second, and average upload (sending) speeds of 500-800 kbps.
"Reliable networks aren't built overnight," said Ken Dixon, president
of Verizon Wireless' New England Region. "We'll continue to make
significant investments across New England to expand and deliver the
reliable wireless services our customers want."
The enhanced Rev. A network also provides access to the company's V
CAST service -- which enables customers to stream video clips, download
full song tracks directly to their wireless phones and access VZ
Navigator(SM), a GPS navigation service, on their Verizon Wireless cell
phones. VZ Navigator offers maps and audible driving directions to more
than 14 million points of interest, and automatically recalculates the
directions if you miss a turn.
The company has also continued to invest in its industry-leading
network quality assurance program during the second quarter. Locally, the
company's four real-life 'test men and women' for the New England region
drove specially equipped "baseline testing" vehicles thousands of miles
across the region on Interstate, U.S. and state highways as well as major
roads in high-population areas to determine if voice calls and data
connections were successful on the first attempt and stayed connected.
Ninety-eight Verizon Wireless test engineers nationwide are dedicated
full-time to driving and testing the company's as well as its competitors'
networks to measure performance and reliability. Nationally, these test men
and women drive nearly 100 specially equipped vehicles almost 1,000,000
miles annually. Vehicles are equipped with computers that automatically
make more than three million voice call attempts and more than 16 million
data tests annually on Verizon Wireless' network and the networks of other
carriers. Each baseline testing vehicle has $240,000 worth of test
equipment.
Strong demand for Verizon Wireless services continued during the second
quarter of 2007 as the company added 1.3 million net new customers. For the
11th consecutive quarter, Verizon Wireless also led the wireless industry
in customer loyalty. The company posted a churn (customer turnover) rate of
just 1.1% (average per month for the quarter), well below the rate reported
by the other major wireless carriers.
Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and
data network, serving 62.1 million customers. The largest US wireless
company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon
Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, with 67,000 employees
nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:
VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD).
Source: Verizon Wireless
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