Verizon Wireless Offers Communication Preparedness Tips As Hurricane Ike Approaches The Texas Coast

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HOUSTON, TX — As Hurricane Ike approaches the Texas Coast, Verizon Wireless urges residents to prepare now and offers the following wireless communication preparedness tips:

  • Help free up wireless networks for emergency personnel by sending brief text messages and limiting non-emergency calls.
  • Keep wireless phone batteries fully charged – in case local power is lost – well before warnings are issued.
  • Check weather and news reports available on wireless phone applications when commercial power is out.
  • Have additional charged batteries and car-charger adapters available for back-up power.
  • Keep phones, batteries, chargers and other equipment in a dry, accessible location.
  • Maintain a list of emergency phone numbers – police, fire and rescue agencies; power companies; insurance providers; family, friends and co-workers; etc. – and program them into your phone.
  • Distribute wireless phone numbers to family members and friends.
  • Forward your home phone calls to your wireless number if you will be away from your home or have to evacuate.

“We urge residents to have a communications plan and to follow our preparedness tips before the storm hits and after,” said Kay Henze, Houston/Gulf Coast region president for Verizon Wireless. “Preparation is key in any severe weather situation. Verizon Wireless has the nation’s most reliable wireless network, and we are prepared for our customer’s every communication need, especially in times of emergency.”

Since the beginning of the year, Verizon Wireless has spent $137 million in the Houston/Gulf Coast area to strengthen and enhance its wireless network. Highlights include:

  • A comprehensive emergency response plan, including preparing emergency command centers across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida in the case of a storm or other crisis.
  • Enhancements to its regional switching facilities, which doubled its traffic capacity and back-up power redundancies. Many are designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and serve as regional emergency operations centers in the event of a storm.
  • A new 35-foot $150,000 Disaster Response Trailer to be used as a temporary customer service location in areas impacted by a disaster.
  • Erecting about 59 new digital cell sites since the start of last year, of which about 85 percent have their own on-site generators.
  • The company also has 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-arranging 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.
  • The company has expanded its EV-DO wireless broadband network, including launching its highest-speed Rev. A network throughout the region. This allows the most advanced wireless services (downloads, location-based applications, video messaging, etc.) and makes the network more robust for usage by residents and emergency agencies.

These kinds of intensive investments and preparations proved critical during the height of extraordinary storm seasons in the late summer and early autumn of 2004, 2005, 2006 and most recently Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Coast. In those years, the Verizon Wireless network remained strong, while many other wireless communication networks struggled to serve residents and emergency response officials.

(Editor’s Note: To accompany a Verizon Wireless Test Man, tour a network facility or obtain broadcast-quality video B-Roll and still images of network operations/emergency preparations, contact Gretchen LeJeune at 713.204.2100).

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 and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

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