Customers In More Areas Of Central And Northern Minnesota Will Soon Be Able To Enjoy The Nation's Largest 4G LTE Network

ST. CLOUD, MN and SAN DIEGO CA — Verizon Wireless today announced at MobileCON^™ 2012 that customers in new markets of Brainerd-Baxter, Alexandria and Fergus Falls, Minn., and in expanded communities around St. Cloud, will be able to experience the speed and capabilities offered through the innovative products and solutions available on its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, when the company introduces the service on Oct. 18.  With the new and expanded markets, the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network will be available in 417 markets across the United States, surpassing its goal to cover 400 markets by the end of 2012.

The new market launches on Oct. 18 will provide continuous 4G LTE coverage on Interstate 94 from Fargo, N.D., across Minnesota to Hudson, Wis.  The company also announced that new 4G LTE service will be launched in the Willmar-Marshall area by the end of the year.   

On Thursday, Oct. 18, customers who visit or live in the popular lake areas of central and northern Minnesota will be able to surf the Web, stream music and video, and stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues, all with speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. 

New coverage in the Brainerd Lakes Area will include:  Baxter and west to the Gull Lake Area and Pillager; north to the Long Lake Area including Nisswa, Pequot Lakes and Pine River; northeast to Aitkin, including Crosby and Deerwood, and south to the Crow Wing Lake Area.

In Alexandria, coverage will include (in part) Lake Carlos, Lake Milton and Lake Darling, as well as along U.S. Highway 71 from Long Prairie to Wadena.  In addition to Fergus Falls, coverage will extend north on U.S. Highway 59 to the Detroit Lakes area and include Frazee and Perham.

The expanded St. Cloud coverage will extend north to Little Falls to include Royalton and St. Stephens.  New coverage will provide U.S. Highway 10 travelers with contiguous coverage from Little Falls to Minneapolis. State Highway 23 will expand northeast from Foley to Mora, and State Highway 25 coverage will extend south from Foley to Becker. 

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network offers more coverage than all U.S. wireless providers combined and is the nation’s largest 4G LTE network.  The company has been aggressively expanding its 4G LTE network across the state including the following market areas:   Bemidji, Duluth, Mankato, the greater Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, Moorhead, Rochester (Austin and Albert Lea), St. Cloud and Worthington.  Each area includes many more communities within the coverage area, such as Owatonna to the south and Cambridge to the north, as part of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul market area.

“With our 4G LTE network, customers can take advantage of the speed offered by our 4G LTE devices and the innovative solutions that leverage 4G LTE technology to enhance connectivity,” said Seamus Hyland, president-Great Plains Region, Verizon Wireless.  “Since launching the Minneapolis-Saint Paul market on Dec. 10, 2011, we have continued to aggressively expand and enhance our 4G LTE network across the state of Minnesota to provide our customers with the best wireless experience possible.”   

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

Verizon Wireless customers can choose from the largest selection of 4G LTE devices and solutions to experience the nation’s fastest 4G network.  4G LTE devices range from tablets and mobile hotspots to the latest smartphones and more.  Details can be found at www.verizonwireless.com/4G LTE. 

Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network and a list of current markets.  Coverage maps will be updated online on Oct. 18.

For more news and stories specific to the Verizon Wireless Midwest Area, visit and subscribe to our blog: http://vzwmidwestarea.com/

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 94.2 million retail customers, including 88.8 million retail postpaid customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 78,000 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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