Florida Customers' Ability To "Rule The Air" Enhanced Through $195 Million Network Investment In 2010

TAMPA, FL — Verizon Wireless, the nation’s leading wireless company with the largest, most reliable 3G network, announced today that it invested $195 million during 2010 in Florida to further enhance wireless services and network coverage for its customers across the state.

The 2010 investment included the continued enhancement of the company’s industry-leading 3G network, as well as the initial rollout of the most advanced 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) high-speed wireless network in the state.

“Through ongoing investments and an amazing team of network technicians in Florida, we’ve built the largest and most reliable 3G network that will continue to serve customers for many years to come, and allow them to truly ‘rule the air,’ ” said Pam Tope, Verizon Wireless Florida region president. “At the same time, we’re excited to have turned on our powerful new 4G LTE network in more Florida markets than any other state in the country.”

In December, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE launched in the core areas of Miami, Key West, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, Orlando and Jacksonville, as well as at the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

Verizon Wireless will continue to expand 4G LTE in these areas and into new Florida markets in 2011, and is scheduled to cover the entire state with the advanced wireless technology by 2013. Continuing to enhance both the Florida 3G and 4G LTE networks will help ensure that customers receive the most reliable and advanced coverage for making voice calls, sending e-mails, text and picture messages, connecting to the internet and accessing tens of thousands of applications, games, video, music and many other features from their phone, notebook, netbook, tablet or other wireless device.

Other highlights of the Verizon Wireless 2010 network investment in Florida include:

• Completion of a new South Florida Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO). The 45,000-square-foot facility located in west Broward County serves as the company’s main call-processing hub for South Florida, with the capacity to handle tens of millions of voice calls and wireless data transmissions each day. The structure, designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, is equipped with large-scale back-up power generation, further enhancing the everyday and emergency strength of the Verizon Wireless network. The facility joins other Verizon Wireless “super switches” in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay and Jupiter.
• Integration of more than 700 Alltel cell sites and several large switching facilities across the state to work as part of the largest and most advanced Verizon Wireless network. With the assimilation of former Alltel resources, many of which located in smaller markets along the Gulf Coast or rural areas in North Florida, the Verizon Wireless company-owned network now covers nearly the entire state and virtually 100 percent of Florida’s population.
• Installation of numerous high-tech in-building systems that use dozens of small wireless transmitters, resembling small smoke detectors, to ensure strong inside coverage. These systems were installed in high-priority public safety facilities such as police stations, emergency command centers and hospitals, as well as high-traffic wireless consumer locations such as hotels, resorts and tourist attractions.
• Deployment of technicians and special vehicles to measure connection quality on the Verizon Wireless network versus other carriers. Using sophisticated testing equipment, the local test teams traveled nearly 50,000 miles and conducted more than 200,000 voice call attempts and more than one million data tests to ensure network superiority.
• Installation of numerous new transmission sites, in addition to software and hardware upgrades to hundreds of existing locations, to reinforce network coverage throughout the state. Due to the long-term ongoing network investment since the company was formed, Verizon Wireless is well positioned to install new cell sites in select areas to stay well ahead of customer growth and maintain the industry’s most advanced and reliable 3G network.

The investment to enhance network reliability in Florida is an ongoing focus for Verizon Wireless. Since the company formed in 2000, more than $2.2 billion has been invested to build and enhance Verizon Wireless network coverage and services for customers in the state. Nationally, Verizon Wireless has invested more than $60 billion to increase the coverage and capacity of its premier nationwide network and to add new services.

For more information on the Verizon Wireless network, visit www.verizonwireless.com.

(Editor’s Note: To accompany a Verizon Wireless network test vehicle, tour a network facility or emergency command center, or obtain broadcast-quality video B-roll and still images of network operations/emergency preparations, contact Chuck Hamby at 813-404-6029).

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network, and serves more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 80,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit 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.

####