Verizon Wireless Pumps Big Money Into Florida

Verizon Wireless says it has invested $146 million in the first half of 2010 alone to improve advanced wireless services and coverage for Florida customers.

The investment included construction and upgrades to large network facilities, installation of high-tech, in-building systems at numerous high-traffic or high-priority Florida venues, the integration of former Alltel network facilities, and the deployment of test teams and vehicles roaming the state to ensure reliable and advanced 3G coverage. In addition, the carrier says technicians have been making intensive preparations to launch even more advanced 4G high-speed data services in Florida, with a rollout scheduled later this year.

Completed in early 2010, the new South Florida Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) is a 45,000-square-foot facility located in west Broward County. The facility now serves as the company’s main call-processing hub for South Florida, with the capacity to handle tens of millions of voice calls and wireless data transmissions each day. The structure, designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, is equipped with large-scale, back-up power generation. The facility joins other Verizon Wireless "super switches" in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay and Jupiter.

Verizon Wireless completed numerous high-tech, in-building systems that use dozens of small wireless transmitters which resemble small smoke detectors to ensure strong inside coverage. These systems were installed in high-priority public safety facilities such as police stations, emergency command centers and hospitals, as well as high-traffic wireless consumer locations such as hotels, resorts and tourist attractions.

The carriers technicians have integrated more than 700 Alltel cell sites and several large switching facilities across Florida. With the assimilation of former Alltel resources, many of which are located in smaller markets along the Gulf Coast or rural areas in North Florida, the Verizon Wireless company-owned network now covers nearly the entire state and virtually 100 percent of Florida’s population.  

Verizon Wireless network technicians have traveled more than 25,000 miles across the state so far this year in special vehicles to measure connection quality on the Verizon Wireless network versus other carriers. Using sophisticated testing equipment, the local test teams conducted more than 100,000 voice call attempts and almost 600,000 data tests on the Verizon Wireless network and those of major competitors to ensure network superiority.

The company plans to launch by the end of the year its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network in 25 to 30 markets nationally. LTE, Verizon says, will deliver significantly greater high-speed network capacity than even today’s most advanced 3G coverage. Verizon Wireless technicians have been making extensive hardware and software installations and enhancements to thousands of network resources (switching facilities, cell sites, etc.) in Florida to provide LTE services to customers when 4G launches in the state.

Since the company formed in 2000, more than $2 billion has been spent to keep enhancing Verizon Wireless coverage and services for customers in Florida. Nationally, Verizon Wireless has invested more than $60 billion to increase the coverage and capacity of its premier nationwide network and to add new services.