Verizon Wireless Also Urges East Coast Residents, Travelers And Visitors To Prepare Their Own Emergency Communications Plans BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 5
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- With weather forecasters
predicting a series of especially violent hurricanes heading for the United
States this month, Verizon Wireless advises customers who live on the East
Coast or who are traveling to the East during hurricane season to make sure
they have a personal emergency communications plan ready to go. The builder
and operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network has made extensive
investments and preparations for the 2008 hurricane season to ensure its
network is ready to serve customers before, during and after severe weather.
Verizon Wireless offers wireless customers the following safety tips:
-- Keep wireless phone batteries fully charged -- in case local power is
lost -- well before warnings are issued.
-- Have additional charged batteries and car-charger adapters available
for back-up power.
-- Keep phones, batteries, chargers and other equipment in a dry and
easily accessible location.
-- Maintain a list of emergency phone numbers and program them into your
phone.
-- Forward home phone calls to your wireless number if you will be away
from home.
-- Limit non-emergency calls and use brief text messages rather than voice
calls to conserve battery power and free-up wireless networks for emergency
agencies and operations. Learn how to text message if you're not a regular
user of the service.
-- Check weather and news reports available on wireless phones with
Internet access and other news and information applications when power is out.
For those who are impacted by severe weather and need to evacuate or are
unable to travel and stuck in an airport, customers can use Verizon Wireless'
services to stay connected and informed including:
-- BroadbandAccess: Verizon Wireless' premier high-speed data service
gives customers a fast, reliable resource to help them stay in touch while
away from home. Based on CDMA 1x Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A
(Rev. A) technology, BroadbandAccess provides a high-speed connection for
customers to access the Internet, e-mail and other important information.
-- Mobile Email: With Mobile Email, customers can get their e-mail
wherever they are without their PCs and stay connected on select Get It
Now(R)-enabled phones.
-- Mobile Web: Mobile Web gives customers access to breaking news, weather
and personal banking information.
Verizon Wireless works year-round to prepare for hurricanes and other
disasters so customers can rely on the company's network when they need it the
most. Highlights of Verizon Wireless' hurricane preparation and network
enhancements include:
-- More than 200 business continuity/disaster recovery plans in place,
covering all of the company's critical business functions, to help keep
customers connected and operating during any kind of emergency. The Verizon
Wireless business continuity team conducts emergency drills throughout the
year to increase the company's response capabilities.
-- New 35-foot $150,000 Disaster Response Trailers, which can be used as
temporary customer service locations in areas impacted by a disaster.
-- Hundreds of new digital cell sites, which have been constructed during
the past year. Roughly 85 percent have their own on-site generators and new
expanded fuel tanks to extend their power-generating capacity.
-- A fleet of Cells on Wheels (COWs) and Cells on Light Trucks (COLTs),
and Generators on Trailers (GOaTs) that can be rolled into hard-hit locations
or areas that need extra network capacity.
-- Pre-arranged fuel delivery to mobile units and generators to keep the
network operating at full strength -- even if power is lost for an extended
period of time.
These network enhancements are part of Verizon Wireless' continued network
investment strategy to increase the coverage and capacity of its national
network and add new services. Since the company was formed, Verizon Wireless
has invested more than $45 billion, including $6.5 billion in 2007 to enhance
its network.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and
data network, serving 68.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge,
N.J., with 70,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more
information, go to: 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
