Verizon Wireless Is Having a Cow at Sabres Games In Buffalo, New York

BUFFALO, NY — In a continuing effort to provide the best wireless service for Buffalo hockey fans during the annual championship hockey tournament playoffs, Verizon Wireless has beefed up its network capacity by activating a temporary cell site near the HSBC Arena. The COW (Cell on Wheels) is a fully functional, generator-powered mobile cell site that enhances wireless capacity, allowing more customers to use their wireless handsets concurrently to make calls, send and receive TXT and Picture Messaging, and download games and ring tones.

"With more than 18,000 fans converging on the area, along with news media and the teams themselves, we anticipated a significant surge in wireless activity," said Gene Fassett, executive director of Network for Verizon Wireless' Upstate New York Region. "The COWs provide additional capacity to handle the increase in game-night wireless traffic."

During Wednesday night's playoff game in downtown Buffalo, the company's sites around the arena handled three times as much voice traffic as they would on a typical evening.

Quick Facts on the Cell on Wheels

• The temporary cell site is equivalent to the highest capacity stationary site presently in the Verizon Wireless network, able to process thousands of calls every hour.
• The trucks are specially equipped with $500,000 in sophisticated mobile equipment.
• The 25,000 lb. vehicle features a 55 ft. retractable mast. In the interest of emergency preparedness, the vehicle is fully self-contained with equipment, fuel, electrical generators, food, water, cots, etc.

The temporary cell site is part of Verizon Wireless' continuous effort to increase capacity and enhance the quality of its wireless voice and data network in New York State and across the country. Verizon Wireless has invested $30 billion in the last six years — $5 billion on average every year since the company was formed — to increase the coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new services. In the Upstate New York Region, the company has invested over $500 million since 2001.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 53 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ, Verizon Wireless 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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