Verizon Wireless Customers In Eastern North Carolina Gain Improved Coverage With The Addition Of 94 New Cell Sites

EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA — Verizon Wireless customers in Eastern North Carolina are now experiencing clearer reception, fewer dropped calls and stronger in-building coverage after the recent addition of 94 new cell sites. With a 40 percent increase in cell sites in this area, these changes mean dramatically denser site coverage giving customers better service and increased capacity to surf the web, send and receive emails, download apps and make calls with their favorite device on America’s largest and most reliable network.

“This is a huge improvement for our network in this area. These additional cell sites mean our customers will have the best coverage and call quality available in Eastern North Carolina,” said Jerry Fountain, president of Verizon Wireless’ Carolinas/Tennessee region.

“Customers are ever-expanding the way they use wireless devices, and our goal is to stay ahead of network demand,” continued Fountain. “These additional 94 cell sites are huge for our customers because they not only provide better 3G coverage now, but they will also eventually be outfitted with 4G technology, beginning in the first half of this year.”

Last year, the world’s first large-scale launch of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) began in 38 major metropolitan areas and in more than 60 commercial airports coast to coast. Verizon Wireless’ plan for 2011 is an aggressive expansion of its 4G LTE network into 140 additional markets, including Fayetteville and surrounding areas.

LTE will offer significant benefits to Verizon Wireless customers, including:

• LTE will support 5-12 megabits per second download rates and 2-5 megabits per second upload rates, enabling customers to run larger and more complex applications faster.
• LTE will operate in the 700 MHz spectrum, which provides better high-quality coverage and in-building penetration.
• Because of the increased data speeds and wider coverage, LTE will make mass deployment of machine-to-machine applications and devices possible.
• And, LTE is the global mobile communications standard chosen by a majority of the world’s leading carriers, which means greater opportunities for seamless roaming.

With these upgrades, Verizon Wireless continues its commitment to enhancing wireless coverage in North Carolina. Verizon invested over $301 million in 2010 to enhance North Carolina’s voice and data services and improve wireless coverage throughout the state, bringing the total statewide network investment to more than $1.4 billion since 2000. These investments in improved 3G coverage and new 4G LTE coverage strategically position Verizon Wireless’ network as the largest and most reliable, as well as the fastest and most advanced, for customers in Eastern North Carolina and surrounding counties.

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 94 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 82,000 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.

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