CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- On Saturday, May 30, for the first time ever, local former Alltel customers will have access to the nation's largest, most reliable wireless network as Verizon Wireless opens for business in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Madison Heights, Martinsville and South Boston, Virginia. In January, Verizon Wireless completed its purchase of Alltel and has spent the last four months integrating networks, preparing to convert billing systems, upgrading high-speed wireless broadband service, and re-merchandising stores. Former Alltel customers in markets to be retained by Verizon Wireless in Central Virginia now have access to Verizon Wireless' leading lineup of devices and data services, such as V CAST Music and Video, MiFi and VZ Navigator, and can visit Verizon Wireless stores across the country for sales and service. Customers can also participate in Verizon Wireless' Friends & Family(R), which allows unlimited calling to up to 10 phone numbers, including out-of-network calls and landlines.
The former Alltel locations in Central Virginia which have been converted to Verizon Wireless Communications stores are located at:
-- 874 Rio East Court, Charlottesville (434-973-8531) -- 100 River Bend Drive, Charlottesville (434-293-3216) -- 3919 Wards Road, Lynchburg (434-237-1729) -- 21039 Timberlake Road, Lynchburg (434-832-0378) -- 308 Amelon Square Center, Madison Heights (434-929-1248) -- 294 W. Commonwealth Blvd., Martinsville (276-666-0818) -- 4120 Halifax Rd., South Boston (434-575-5250)
The new Verizon Wireless stores are open from 10 am to 9 pm Monday - Saturday and from 10 am to 7 pm on Sunday.
Customers will be able to purchase wireless devices available exclusively through Verizon Wireless like the BlackBerry Storm, the world's first touch-screen BlackBerry, which features a music player, 3.2 megapixel camera, camcorder and HTML Internet web browser; the LG Voyager and V(R) 2; the Samsung Alias(TM) II; the G'zOne Boulder, a ruggedized phone built to military specifications as well as global devices for use in more than 200 countries.
Both former Alltel and existing Verizon Wireless customers in these areas will also now benefit from network enhancements resulting from the integration of the two companies' networks, including increased coverage in a number of areas of the Commonwealth. Wireless data speeds have been increased in Lynchburg, Charlottesville, and Martinsville, as more than 100 former Alltel cell sites have been upgraded to EVDO Rev A technology, which means customers with wireless broadband-capable devices can now have access to faster Web surfing, and email access. The company's Mobile Broadband service provides average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps. That translates to downloading a 1 Megabyte e-mail attachment - the equivalent of a small PowerPoint(R) presentation or a large PDF file - in about eight seconds and sending the same-sized file in less than 13 seconds.
Real-Life Can You Hear Me Now?(R) Team Tests Local Network
Continued network enhancements are planned in the months ahead. To help define areas for coverage and capacity improvements, Verizon Wireless has a real-life test woman driving the local roads in one of the company's specially equipped performance monitoring vehicles. Each vehicle is loaded with computers that measure voice call quality and data connection speeds of Verizon Wireless and other wireless carriers.*
"We're thrilled to be open for business, and welcome the approximately 500,000 former Alltel customers in Central Virginia to the Verizon Wireless family," said Mike Maiorana, president of Verizon Wireless in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland. "We're looking forward to serving these customers, and adding many new customers, as we plan to earn their business every day. I am proud of the team we have in place to serve customers in our stores, on the phone, and online, and welcome everyone to check out our remodeled stores and our best-in-class product lineup."
HopeLine(R) Phone Recycling Program Benefits Domestic Violence Victims
All Existing Verizon Wireless stores participate in the company's national HopeLine program, which collects no-longer-used wireless phones (all models, from all wireless carriers) and accessories to be refurbished, recycled and/or sold. Proceeds benefit victims of domestic violence through grants and the donation of wireless phones and service. Since HopeLine's recycling program was launched nationwide in 2001, Verizon Wireless has awarded more than $6.3 million in cash grants to domestic violence agencies and organizations and distributed more than 76,000 phones with more than 228 million minutes of free wireless service to be used by victims of domestic violence.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving more than 86.6 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 86,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit http://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 http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
Verizon Wireless
CONTACT: Sherri Cunningham of Verizon Wireless, +1-202-364-5856
Web Site: http://www.verizonwireless.com/
