Verizon Wireless Rings in the New Year with EVDO Expansion to Utah

[danny boi]

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051229/20051229005008.html?.v=1


SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 2005--Continuing to build on its strategy to provide its customers superior wireless services, Verizon Wireless today announced the rollout of two award-winning services in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area -- one developed for the consumer market, the other primarily for business customers. V CAST, the nation's first 3G wireless broadband multimedia service for consumers, and BroadbandAccess, the first fully mobile wide-area wireless Internet access service launched in the nation, are now both available in Salt Lake City with service extending along the Wasatch Front from Ogden to Payson, including the Salt Lake City airport. Both services run on the company's high-speed EV-DO (Evolution Data-Optimized) wireless broadband network -- the largest high-speed wireless broadband network in the U.S

"The expansion of our high-speed wireless broadband network provides Verizon Wireless customers in Salt Lake City with state-of-the-art mobile wireless technology," said Jeff Mango, regional president for Verizon Wireless. "With V CAST, consumers can access the latest in multimedia programming -- like music videos and current movie trailers -- to stay connected, informed and entertained via their wireless phones, and BroadbandAccess provides mobile workers full access to their corporate information, just as if they were attached via a high-speed wired connection, but with the freedom of true mobility."

V CAST

Verizon Wireless' V CAST service enables consumers to access short video content on-demand, viewing current news, weather, sports and entertainment programming. With V CAST, customers can also download and play cutting-edge 3D games, watch music videos and concert performances from favorite artists, view short video programs specifically designed for mobile phones and other video content from V CAST Showcase right on their phones. For a list of all videos and 3D game entertainment available on V CAST, visit www.getvcast.com.

For $15.00 monthly access added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan, customers in Salt Lake City can receive the V CAST VPak which includes unlimited access to a wide array of more than 300 daily updated video clips from leading news, sports, weather and entertainment content providers. Unlimited basic short content is included. There are no airtime charges to download, stream or watch V CAST content. Customers can also download, stream or watch premium short video content, available at additional cost, which includes music videos, select sports clips and other programming. Application download fees also apply for 3D games, premium video short content, and all other Get It Now® applications. Verizon Wireless V CAST customers also receive monthly access and unlimited browsing on Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web 2.0(SM) news and information service. For a limited time, customers who sign up for V CAST receive one month of service free.

BroadbandAccess

The company's highly recognized BroadbandAccess service, available to mobile professionals and enterprise customers, allows customers in Salt Lake City to connect wirelessly to the Internet via their laptop at broadband speeds, a convenient way to conduct business. BroadbandAccess enables customers to download a 1 Megabyte email attachment (for example, a small PowerPoint presentation or a large PDF file), or receive three digital pictures (each 400 x 600 pixels) in less than 20 seconds. Because EV-DO technology is backward compatible -- a distinct advantage to using CDMA technology -- customers who travel outside a BroadbandAccess coverage area with an EV-DO device will seamlessly switch to Verizon Wireless' existing NationalAccess service, which runs on the company's 1xRTT network.

"Services like BroadbandAccess are a great fit for Salt Lake City given the wide variety of business and tech-savvy users who live and work here," said Mango. "With BroadbandAccess, our wireless customers will be able to stay connected via a secure, reliable high-speed data connection."

Business customers, working with virtual private network (VPN) connections, can use BroadbandAccess as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet, allowing them to work from any location within the BroadbandAccess coverage area, as if they were in the office. BroadbandAccess, with typical user download speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second (kbps), is ideal for downloading files and business-critical information residing behind corporate firewalls and for accessing e-mail, intranets and the Internet. BroadbandAccess' EV-DO technology has its own data protection and authentication and is designed to work with a business' existing IT infrastructure and security solutions.

In an effort to bring the speed and mobility of Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess to more of its customers, Verizon Wireless has announced special pricing for its BroadbandAccess service -- current and new customers with any monthly voice plan can now get unlimited BroadbandAccess for $59.99 monthly access with a one- or two-year customer agreement. For non-voice customers, BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access for unlimited use with a one- or two-year customer agreement. The pricing is available through March 31, 2006. For more information on BroadbandAccess from Verizon Wireless, visit www.verizonwireless.com/broadbandaccess.

EV-DO Network

V CAST and BroadbandAccess run on Verizon Wireless' 3G EV-DO network, which began commercial operation in October 2003 in San Diego and Washington, D.C. Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network initially made its commercial debut with BroadbandAccess wireless Internet access service for business customers and mobile professionals. The company launched its V CAST wireless broadband multimedia service in February 2005.

Today the EV-DO coverage area reaches 150 million Americans with service available in 180 major metropolitan areas. The company's expansion strategy for EV-DO coverage -- for V CAST and BroadbandAccess service -- includes adding new markets and expanding network coverage in existing markets.

In Utah, Verizon Wireless' EV-DO coverage area now includes the cities of Salt Lake City, Ogden, Layton, Magna, Sandy, West Jordan, Draper, Provo and Payson.

In the past three years, Verizon Wireless has invested more than $103 million in network enhancements in the state.

[Andy]

Excellent. Thank your for this post! EVDO was launched here a few days ago.