Verizon Awards $10,000 Disaster Relief Grant To The American Red Cross

What:             
The Verizon Foundation today awarded a $10,000 disaster relief grant to the American Red Cross to support the agency’s relief efforts for Colorado residents and others affected by the High Park fire.

Verizon Wireless earlier engaged its Crisis Response Team (VCRT) to respond to a request from local authorities for additional cell phones and a temporary network repeater to boost wireless coverage for the emergency personnel battling the wildfire west of Ft. Collins.

A fully-staffed Verizon Wireless disaster relief tent remains in place at “The Ranch” in Loveland, Colorado, to provide mobile device charging stations, mobile internet access and other support services including respiratory masks, hand sanitizers, sunscreen and bottled water for evacuees.

The High Park fire has expanded to nearly 60,000 acres and is estimated to be 50% contained.

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

Thursday, June 14 -- A Verizon Wireless disaster relief tent was established at “The Ranch” to provide mobile charging stations, mobile internet access and other relief services to hundreds of evacuees.

Wednesday, June 20 -- A $10,000 disaster relief grant from the Verizon Foundation to the American Red Cross was announced.

Where:           
High Park area west of Ft. Collins, Colorado.

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.

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