Hurricane seasonVerizon says it is ready for hurricane season

With less than a month to go until the start of the 2012 hurricane season, Verizon says its wireless network is prepared to serve customers in the event of a major storm or emergency.

Verizon says that today, more than two-thirds of the U.S. most hurricane-prone coastal population, from the Carolinas to the Texas Gulf Coast, is covered by the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE data network.  When customers travel outside of 4G LTE coverage areas, wireless devices automatically connect to Verizon Wireless’ 3G data network, which is available throughout most of the same coastal area.

“The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network, with its extensive coverage and blazingly fast upload and download speeds, and our wide array of 4G LTE-enabled smartphones, tablets and modems brings new capabilities to consumers, businesses and first responders who are on high alert during hurricane season,” said Hans Leutenegger, vice president, Network — South Area for Verizon Wireless.  “We work hard to make sure our network is there when customers count on us most for social networking; Internet browsing; downloading apps; exchanging email and text, picture and video messages; and, of course, for making calls.”

The company says its 4G LTE network is now available in 230 markets and covers more than two-thirds of the U.S. population. By the end of 2012, the 4G LTE network will be available in more than 400 markets and to more than 260 million people in the United States.

Verizon highlights these efforts, too:

• Investing more than $6 billion annually on average in its national wireless network to increase coverage and capacity and to add new services.
• Equipping many Cells on Wheels (COWs) and Cells on Light Trucks (COLTs) with 4G LTE technology, so they can be rolled into hard-hit locations or areas that need extra voice, text and data capacity.
• Pre-arranging fuel delivery to mobile units and back-up generators to keep the network operating at full strength, even if power is lost for an extended period of time.  The company also has fleets of Generators on Trailers (GOaTs) that can be deployed to provide emergency power for switches and cell sites when commercial power supplies are interrupted.
• Preparing network call processing centers in the South Area to withstand hurricane force winds and conditions.  These call processing centers also serve as company Emergency Operation Centers in the event of a catastrophic storm.
• Developing business continuity and disaster recovery plans so the company can continue vital operations to serve customers during emergency situations.
• Sending test men and women to measure the quality of Verizon Wireless voice and data coverage across the country.
• Conducting hundreds of emergency exercises each year that simulate events such as natural disasters, transportation disruptions and power outages.