Verizon Wireless Completes High-Speed 3G Network Across Lancaster and Lebanon Counties

Wednesday, Feb 04, 2009

Lancaster, Pa., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless announced today that it has completed enhancements to its advanced 3G high-speed wireless network in Lancaster County and Lebanon County, enabling more customers to browse the Internet, download music, send e-mail and multimedia messages and access other advanced wireless services more reliably at even faster broadband speeds.

To make these enhancements, Verizon Wireless installed its most advanced EV-DO Rev. A (Evolution-data Optimized, Revision A) hardware and software on two current cell sites in need of upgrading and activated an additional 27 EV-DO cell sites throughout Lancaster and Lebanon County. The company spent more than $200 million in 2008 to enhance services and coverage throughout southeastern, central and northeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, bringing the network investment in the region to more than $1.2 billion since 2001.

"Our high-speed wireless network gives our customers three key advantages in wireless communication: speed, mobility and security," said Christine Baron, president of Verizon Wireless' Philadelphia Tri-State region. "With these advantages, business customers and mobile professionals can increase productivity and see bottom-line business benefits. In addition, our V CAST services, such as V CAST Music with Rhapsody, help keep customers entertained while on-the-go - on the same devices they carry with them every day."

The EV-DO Rev. A enhancements are part of the company's ongoing investment in Central Pennsylvania. They give customers access to advanced services such as V CAST (which lets them stream video clips, play cutting-edge 3D games and download full-song tracks over the air), get turn-by-turn directions on VZ Navigator(SM) and connect with our newest Push to Talk technology.

EV-DO Rev. A technology also provides the highest speed wireless connection to Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband, the company's business data service, which enables customers to wirelessly access their e-mail and calendars, the Internet and other information via a high-speed connection. Mobile Broadband offers average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and upload speeds of 500-800 kbps, which means customers can download a 1 Megabyte attachment--the equivalent of a small PowerPoint(R) presentation or a large PDF file--in about eight seconds and upload the same-sized file in less than 13 seconds.

The multi-million dollar expansion entailed installing high-tech wireless hardware and software in cell sites throughout the region. It is part of an ongoing network investment by Verizon Wireless, which has invested more than $50 billion since it was formed to increase the coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new services. Verizon Wireless continues to improve its wireless network in Pennsylvania.

Source: PR Newswire