Phones And Wireless Network Support Emergency Crews Near High Park, Colorado Wildfire

What:            
Verizon Wireless engaged its Crisis Response Team (VCRT) to respond to a request from local authorities for additional cell phones and to boost wireless coverage for hundreds of emergency personnel battling the High Park wildfire west of Ft. Collins.

The High Park fire has expanded to nearly 50,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 homes and other structures.

Expanding coverage and capacity to existing cell sites in the area enhances wireless coverage so that emergency response teams and other Verizon Wireless customers can make more calls and send more data transmissions. 

When:            
Tuesday, June 12 -- A Network Repeater and emergency wireless phones and data devices were dispatched. Repeater was “on-air” within hours of request.

Where:          
High Park and canyon areas west of Ft. Collins.

Why:              
Verizon Wireless deploys mobile cell sites and network repeaters -- or boosts the call-handling capacity of existing cell sites -- to enhance its network when there is a natural disaster or other unplanned event.

Reliability:     
In addition to its fleet of mobile equipment, Verizon Wireless’ industry-leading network redundancy and maintenance practices have proven especially valuable to first responders during natural disasters and emergencies across the country.  Standard Verizon Wireless network-reliability features include battery back-up power at virtually all facilities as well as generators at switching facilities and many cell site locations.

Network Investment:   
Verizon Wireless invested more than $160 million in its Colorado network in 2011. The company’s ongoing network investment now totals more than $1.16 billion in Colorado and $70 billion nationally since its inception in 2000.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 93.0 million retail customers, including 88.0 million retail postpaid 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.

####