Verizon Wireless Launches High-Speed Wireless Network in Traverse City

[Andy]

Verizon Wireless Launches High-Speed Wireless Network in Traverse City in Time for July Events

Nation's most reliable wireless network helps fans share thrills of the game with family and friends
July 06, 2007: 12:00 PM EST

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and SAN FRANCISCO, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- With baseball's mid-season classic right around the corner, Verizon Wireless has fine-tuned its network in San Francisco to handle additional wireless call volume during Tuesday's big game. Thousands of baseball fans, sports news media and others on the Verizon Wireless network who flock to the City by the Bay can rest assured that they will be able to talk and text to friends and fans back home about the festivities leading up to and including the big event.

Verizon Wireless has enhanced network capacity on key cell sites around the city and downtown stadium to boost calling capacity by 40 percent. The installations will enable more Verizon Wireless customers to make calls, send and receive text and picture messages, and download music, games and Ringtones concurrently.

"One of the main reasons customers choose Verizon Wireless and stay with us is because we offer the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network," said Rich Garwood, president -- Northern California and Nevada region for Verizon Wireless. "We are committed to ensuring that our network stands up to its excellent reputation for everyday use and during major events like this."

Additionally, leading up to Tuesday night's game, Verizon Wireless has dispatched its real-life, California-based test men and women to drive throughout downtown San Francisco, testing the performance of the company's network, making sure its customers' experience is as good as or better than they have come to expect from Verizon Wireless.

For more information about Verizon Wireless, please visit Cell Phones, Mobile Phones and plans for Personal - Verizon Wireless.

Test Man/Woman Ride-Along Program

Specially equipped Verizon Wireless test vehicles simultaneously test seven wireless providers, using a computerized program to generate phonically diverse "conversations" as well as data transmissions. Members of the media who are interested in setting up an interview ride-along with a local member of the Verizon Wireless team of real-life test men and women, are invited to contact Heidi Flato at 925.279.6545.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving more than 60.7 million customers. The largest US wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 66,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone . Find more information on the Web at Cell Phones, Mobile Phones and plans for Personal - Verizon Wireless. 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.

Verizon Wireless Ready for Grand Slam at Baseball's Mid-Season Classic

[RJB]

So what does one have to do to get a big event in their area???

[Bsilvertab]

Someone at corporate Verizon must have wanted EVDO launched in TC for their trip to the Cherry Festival. All I can say is wow. I don't understand why they would not launch it first in communities that actually use Verizon like Muskegon. Verizon's PCS only network in northern Michigan is not very good. They should have stuck with roaming on Alltel.

[RadioFoneGuy]

Verizon doesnt even sell service in Northern Michigan, they built out a mini network to service their own customers that would normally roam.
Verizon has a tiny chuck of spectrum and wont be able sustain much for data and Voice. Verizon bought a 10 Meg slice from Cricket about 2 years ago.

[strunke]

Originally Posted by Bsilvertab

Someone at corporate Verizon must have wanted EVDO launched in TC for their trip to the Cherry Festival. All I can say is wow. I don't understand why they would not launch it first in communities that actually use Verizon like Muskegon. Verizon's PCS only network in northern Michigan is not very good. They should have stuck with roaming on Alltel.

Originally Posted by Cellonetech

Verizon doesnt even sell service in Northern Michigan, they built out a mini network to service their own customers that would normally roam.
Verizon has a tiny chuck of spectrum and wont be able sustain much for data and Voice. Verizon bought a 10 Meg slice from Cricket about 2 years ago.

I think this is a typo or some other "Traverse City" not the Traverse City as in Cherry Capital of the world

[jayatmtu]

Yeah..they don't have much of a network up there..just enough to cause my phone to lock onto a weak unusable signal...Fortunately they are building a tower down the street from me .

I also noticed that Sprint has EVDO in Traverse City now, even though it's not on their coverage maps.

[mcbts]

Originally Posted by Cellonetech

Verizon doesnt even sell service in Northern Michigan, they built out a mini network to service their own customers that would normally roam.
Verizon has a tiny chuck of spectrum and wont be able sustain much for data and Voice. Verizon bought a 10 Meg slice from Cricket about 2 years ago.

Verizon owns two 10 Mhz licenses in the Traverse City BTA. I don't think voice and data capacity will be much of a problem in that market for quite awhile. The cellular A band licenses they own in lower Michigan are 25 Mhz and that is a much more densely populated market. They have managed down there without any additional spectrum except in the some of the core metropolitan areas.

[jayatmtu]

Originally Posted by Cellonetech

Verizon doesnt even sell service in Northern Michigan, they built out a mini network to service their own customers that would normally roam.
Verizon has a tiny chuck of spectrum and wont be able sustain much for data and Voice. Verizon bought a 10 Meg slice from Cricket about 2 years ago.

Verizon is selling service currently at the Best Buy in Traverse City.

[RadioFoneGuy]

Best Buy and Circuit City sell anything anywhere. They were selling Verizon a couple years before they had a network up here. Best Buy also sells AT&T and Tmobile which arent even up here.

I have run into a few Verizon Techs and they said there wasnt any plans to open a Verizon store in Northern Michigan and with the freq limitations they cant build out like they would like.

So Sprint (IPCS) is running EVDO now, I didnt know they were working on it.

[jayatmtu]

Originally Posted by Cellonetech

Best Buy and Circuit City sell anything anywhere. They were selling Verizon a couple years before they had a network up here. Best Buy also sells AT&T and Tmobile which arent even up here.

I have run into a few Verizon Techs and they said there wasnt any plans to open a Verizon store in Northern Michigan and with the freq limitations they cant build out like they would like.

So Sprint (IPCS) is running EVDO now, I didnt know they were working on it.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on your above post. Best Buy was selling Dobson/CellularOne, and now they also sell Verizon. Last time I was up there (a few weeks ago) they were not selling AT&T or T-Mobile. Additionally, the Verizon website now lists Best Buy as a dealer in Traverse City.

There network extends down as far as Benzie County (they are building a cell site less than 1/4 mile from my house and down to Cadillac. I know it's Verizon because the township all sent us letters notifying us of its construction.

[Alienware_51]

Here is just another image of their coverage also showing their EVDO (light purple)

[strunke]

Oh so they did launch EVDO, but the copy paste was something else.....i see.....

[RadioFoneGuy]

`Good to know, I was just refering to the local flyers they have been sending out. I go into Best Buy and dont really pay attention the cell phones.

A few people will buy those Verizon phones and think they have excellent service up here like they do in alot of areas and be seriously disappointed.

They have been building a good numer of towers but in Northern Michigan with 1900 is an engineering nightmare with all the hills and trees.

Verizon is also the lowest on most of the Co-Located towers because of being the last to build out.

I think I would still buy Verizon over iPCS if I had the choice and knowing the things I know.

Verizon is a good company but will have a couple of years before they can seriously compete. They should buy out iPCS and get some more spectrum since Sprint is taking their sweet time buying them.

[Flintster]

I live in the building that Verizon erected their massive cellular antenna grid.

We are one of the two tallest buildings in downtown Traverse City (Riverview Terrace) and Verizon somehow got their way in very quickly. Since my building is managed under HUD (low income housing), aka Federal Government, there was no community input or input from the residents of my building (130 units, 10 floors). The grid is 50 feet above me, who knows what health hazards that can reak.

Anyway, the short of it is, Verizon literally came busting in drilling, running large conduits through 10 floors of our stairwells, built a huge backup generator housed in a hideous structure, then erected a little building on top of my building rooftop to house the equipment, and a huge air conditioning system. We have no air conditioning for the residents, most are elderly and cannot tolerate the heat, but the Traverse City Housing Commision who manages the bulding forbids air conditioning in our apartments, and refuses to invest in central air conditioning - yet graciously allowed verizon to come in.

I would not mind so much if the Housing Commision and Verizon were to partner up and provide reduced cost broadband to the residents, but no such deal was made. Charter Cable has refused to provide any additional cable broadband because the wiring is too antiquainted to support digital services, and the AT&T CO is right next door to us - but they have problems with provisioning of service to us as well.

There is a grassroots non-profit group in town trying to provide FREE wifi service for all of downtown and approached the Housing Commision to place a single pole antenna with patch panel AND providing the residents of
Riverview Terrace FREE broadband wifi - but they were turned down. Seems such a venture was not profitable for them. Verizon apparently is paying big bucks to have a presence downtown Traverse City.

And rumor has it that during the National Govenors Annual meeting here in town (July 2007), promoted the overnight marriage. Seems our new Executive director has managed to pull this stunt quite quickly.

And service was switched on just at the start of our Cherry Fest. Rumor also suggests that one of Verizon executives who owns a yacht in our Marina wanted his EVDO and got it.

Travese City is not corrupt, nor progressive, its just during the summer months, we have many rich retired people coming up from Chicago to live in our Lake Michigan Resort town. Money does talk.

[budone]

Originally Posted by Flintster

Traverse City is not corrupt, nor progressive, its just during the summer months, we have many rich retired people coming up from Chicago to live in our Lake Michigan Resort town. Money does talk.

Since the original post had nothing to do with Traverse City, I am going Totally off topic also.

TC May not be corrupt, however many many things are decided behind the scenes and even with public input, ie the new parking garage vote that was defeated by 71%, funny, it is still going to be built..... County meetings at 7am all over the county. Lawsuits against city and county officials for having illegal closed door meetings.

This is a, 'Good Ol Boy' town and you are right, money does talk.

OK, back to the cell towers.