Verizon Wireless to Invest $121.3 Million on its Illinois Network in 2010

CHICAGO, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless will spend $121.3 million on its advanced high-speed 3G network in Illinois in 2010, including $24 million specifically to add more capacity to its network and stay ahead of customers' data usage.

The statewide enhancements will ensure that Verizon Wireless customers across Illinois can continue using their wireless devices to access the Internet, view high-quality videos, download music, games and ringtones, and send and receive email.

The company's overall $121.3 million investment will include building several new cell sites, among other initiatives. The $24 million capacity-improvement project entails installing equipment on hundreds of cell sites across Illinois, thereby increasing data capacity of the network across the state by 34 percent.

"We stay well ahead of our customers' growing needs by studying their data usage habits and test driving our network to experience firsthand the speeds and quality of our 3G network," said T.J. Fox, president - Illinois/Wisconsin Region, Verizon Wireless. "Network reliability is not just a catch phrase for us. It defines who we are."

Verizon Wireless has invested more than $59 billion since it was formed - $5.7 billion on average every year - to increase the coverage and capacity of its premier nationwide network and to add new services. Since the company was formed in 2000, Verizon Wireless has invested more than $1.3 billion on improvements to its wireless network in Illinois.

About Verizon Wireless in Illinois

In Illinois, Verizon Wireless has more than 2,200 employees and 78 company-owned retail locations in more than 59 cities, including Addison, Arlington Heights, Aurora, Batavia, Belvidere, Bloomingdale, Bloomington, Bolingbrook, Bourbonnais, Bradley,  Burbank, Calumet City, Champaign, Chicago, Chicago Ridge, Crestwood, Crystal Lake, DeKalb, Dixon, Downers Grove, East Peoria, Forsyth, Galesburg, Gurnee, Hillside, Hodgkins, Hoffman Estates, Joliet, Lake in the Hills, Lake Zurich, Lincolnwood, Machesney Park, Matteson, McHenry, Moline, Naperville, New Lenox, Niles, Norridge, North Aurora, North Riverside, Northbrook, Orland Park, Palatine, Pekin, Peoria, Peru, Plainfield, Rockford, Romeoville, Schaumburg, South Elgin, Springfield, St. Charles, Vernon Hills, West Dundee, Wheaton, Wheeling and Willowbrook.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving nearly 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with  81,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, Nasdaq: 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

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