Verizon Wireless Expands Its 4G LTE Network In The Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, Area On Nov. 17

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — On Nov. 17, more Verizon Wireless customers across the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area can take advantage of Verizon Wireless’ 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, the fastest and most reliable 4G network in the nation. New coverage extends from the Twin Cities including the following cities and towns:

• North along the border between Zimmerman and North Branch, including Ham Lake and St. Francis;
• South along the border between Belle Plaine and Farmington, including Castle Rock;
• East including Stillwater and the greater part of St. Croix County, Wis., with the Wisconsin cities of Baldwin, Glenwood City, Hammond, Hudson, New Richmond, River Falls, Roberts, Somerset and Woodville;
• West to Howard Lake and northwest to Annandale and Monticello, including Albertville, Maple Lake, Montrose and Watertown.

Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network allows customers to share music and photos, surf the Web and download files up to 10 times faster than with the company’s 3G network. Verizon Wireless initially launched its 4G LTE network in the Minneapolis/St. Paul on Dec. 5, 2010 with coverage extending north along a border between Elk River and Forest Lake, east along a border between Stillwater and Hastings, south along a border between Jordan and Farmington, and west along a border between Buffalo and Waconia.

“Our network is the largest 4G LTE network in the nation and was just named the ‘Fastest 4G Network Yet’ by Popular Science’s Best of What’s New awards and ranked No. 1 on PC World’s 100 Best Products of 2011,” said Seamus Hyland, president–Great Plains Region, Verizon Wireless. “We are expanding our network so that even more of the greater Twin Cities-area residents, small businesses and local government can take advantage of the next generation of wireless technology, which is continuing to push the boundaries of connectivity.”

4G LTE Devices and Plans

Residents of the greater Twin Cities area can choose from 16 4G LTE-enabled devices, including notebooks and netbooks; hotspots and modems; and tablets and smartphones, such as the new HTC Rezound™ and DROID RAZR™ by Motorola, to connect to the largest 4G LTE network in the country. Details on each device can be found at www.verizonwireless.com/4GLTE, and information on plans and pricing is available at www.verizonwireless.com/plans.

Coverage and Speed

With a consistent focus on growth and reliability, Verizon Wireless has quickly expanded its 4G LTE network. The company is not only expanding the network in Louisville, Ky.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.; and Pittsburgh, Pa., on Nov. 17, but also adding 14 new markets, for a total of 179 markets covered. Verizon Wireless plans to continue rapidly expanding its 4G LTE network to its entire 3G coverage area by the end of 2013.

In real-world, fully loaded network environments, 4G LTE customers in the greater Twin Cities coverage area should experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.

Extending Coverage and Reliability

When customers travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, the devices automatically connect to Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, enabling customers to stay connected from coast to coast. Verizon Wireless’ 3G network is the largest, most reliable high-speed data network in the country and allows customers in 3G coverage areas who purchase 4G LTE devices today to take advantage of 4G LTE speeds when the faster network becomes available in their areas.

For more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte. Coverage maps will be available online for the greater Twin Cities area.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 107.7 million total wireless connections, including 90.7 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with nearly 83,000 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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