Verizon Wireless Steps Up To The Plate To Handle Increased Demand at Shea Stadium

NEW YORK, NY — Peanuts? Check. Jersey of your favorite Mets player? Check. Reliable wireless network? Check. With the baseball season officially underway, Verizon Wireless is providing customers with the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network in and around Shea stadium and across the country.

Thanks to a Cell on Wheels (COW) recently installed in the Shea Stadium parking lot, Verizon Wireless was ready and able to handle the 50 percent increase in voice and data calls generated by this week's opening day festivities. The COW, a fully functional, generator-powered mobile cell site, will remain in place for several weeks to handle the increased demand generated by the excitement of the first weeks of the season.

In 2006, Verizon Wireless invested $350 million to enhance its New York metro area network, and more than $35 billion across the nation in the past seven years to stay ahead of the growing demand for the company's voice and data services, like TXT and Picture Messaging, V CAST and V CAST Music, BroadbandAccess and other applications.

In a continuing demonstration of its commitment to provide customers with a superior wireless experience, Verizon Wireless recently enhanced its formidable network testing capabilities by nearly doubling its nationwide fleet of drive test vehicles and its team of real-life test men and test women. Now, 98 Verizon Wireless test engineers nationwide are dedicated full-time to driving and testing nearly one million miles in specially equipped, company-owned and -operated vehicles to measure the performance of the company's network as well as competitors' networks.

The additional vehicles, which cost approximately $240,000 each when fully equipped, represent an additional investment of more than $11 million in rolling stock in the past two years to test wireless networks.

For more information on Verizon Wireless, please visit www.verizonwireless.com. To set up an interview or ride-along test drive with a Verizon Wireless test man or woman, please contact Kimberly Ancin at 845-429-3839.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving more than 59 million customers. The largest US wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 65,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.  

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