San Francisco Bay Area Receives 3G Coverage, 11 New Cell Sites From Largest U.S. Carrier – Verizon Wireless

Northern California investment meets growing demand for calls, email, text, web, video and music

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ – The ongoing effort to expand and improve the nation’s most reliable wireless network for residents and visitors in the San Francisco Bay Area has resulted in 11 new Verizon Wireless cell sites. The cell sites expand 3G wireless coverage in:

• Berkeley, near the Berkeley Campus from Shattuck and Channing, south to Ashby and Adeline, east to Stuart and Telegraph and west to Stuart and Martin Luther King.
• Forestville, along River Road and surrounding area
• La Honda, along Highway 84 and Pescadero Creek Road
• Lafayette, along Highway 24 and surrounding area
• Morgan Hill, along Highway 101 in eastern portion of Morgan Hill
• San Francisco, Noe Valley area north to 17th Street and south to 25th Street and surrounding area
• San Jose, Almaden Expressway and surrounding area
• Santa Rosa, Kaiser Hospital and surrounding area
• Sebastopol, along Highway 116 and Occidental Road and surrounding area
• Vacaville, along Lewis Road and Fry Road ad surrounding area
• Vallejo, Masonic Temple and surrounding area

Increasing the size and capacity of the country’s largest, most reliable wireless network means more calls, emails, text and picture messages, plus web browsing, video and music services are now available to Verizon Wireless customers in Northern California.

This network enhancement is part of the company’s consistent, aggressive multi-billion dollar network investment each year to stay ahead of the growing demand for the company’s voice and innovative data services. Verizon Wireless spent $684 million to enhance services and coverage in California during 2008.

Nationally, the company has invested more than $50 billion since it was formed in 2000. The result: the largest, most reliable 3G network and Mobile Broadband wireless data services such as picture messaging, text messaging, and the company’s exclusive V CAST service. V CAST brings video clips of TV shows, music on demand and other multimedia services to wireless phones.

With Mobile Broadband, users can connect to the Internet, download music over-the-air, and access e-mail or corporate data at average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps. For example, customers can download a one megabyte e-mail 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 company’s ‘nation’s most reliable wireless network’ reputation is based on network studies performed by real-life test men and test women throughout the country. Nationally, these test men and women drive about 90 specially equipped vehicles almost 1 million miles annually on Interstate, U.S. and state highways as well as major roads and surface streets in high-population areas, based upon U.S. Census counts, to confirm that voice calls and data connections are successful on the first attempt and stay connected. Vehicles are equipped with computers that automatically make more than three million voice call attempts and more than 16 million data tests annually on Verizon Wireless’ network and the networks of other carriers.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving more than 80 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 85,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: 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.

SOURCE Verizon Wireless