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Verizon Adds Cell Sites to Increase Coverage

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 13--Verizon Wireless has added five new cell sites in the region, increasing the capacity and coverage of its wireless phone network.

The new sites, which were installed in late August, are in Schenectady, Rotterdam, Cohoes, Charlton and Sand Lake. Verizon Wireless has a total of 68 sites in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties, said John O'Malley, a company spokesman.

Wireless cell sites consist of radio antennas. Although they can be built on large towers, they also can be placed in or on existing structures such as church steeples or water towers.

There were more than 175,000 cell sites in the United States as of last year, according to data from CTIA/The Wireless Association, an industry trade group in Washington, D.C.

O'Malley said a cell site costs between $100,000 and $1 million, depending on how difficult it is to build. Verizon Wireless spent $168 million last year expanding its network upstate and will spend about as much this year, he said. The company, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, had $27.7 billion in revenue last year.

The new sites were installed to fill in coverage gaps, increase capacity in high-traffic areas and respond to customer requests, he said. "It's really just the result of our ongoing network expansion," O'Malley said. "We do listen to what our customers say."

O'Malley said Verizon would be rolling out its new high-speed wireless Internet access service, called BroadbandAccess, to the Capital Region during the first quarter next year. The service, aimed at business, has already been introduced in Rochester and Syracuse. It uses existing cell sites, but with added equipment.

There is fierce competition among wireless companies to add customers and capacity. Verizon Wireless has 47.4 million customers, while the nation's largest wireless company, Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., has more than 50 million.

Cingular spokesman Marty Nee said the company has added eight new cell sites this year in the Capital Region, but he declined to say if the company tries to keep up with other companies like Verizon Wireless.

"We are constantly improving our service every single day," Nee said. "It's something we do constantly."

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VZ, VOD, BLS, SBC,

Source: Times Union

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