Verizon working hard to keep you connected

Summer is upon us, so you know what that means: thunderstorms, humidity, and power outages. We love summer as much as the next guy or gal, but these three things take the best season of the year and make it just slightly less enjoyable. Oi, there’s really nothing worse than being stuck in a powerless house during a thunderstorm in July. Verizon Wireless wants to help you make the best of it, though: They say they’re ready for anything this summer.

The Verizon Wireless network is built for reliability in emergencies — such as power blackouts and extreme weather conditions — with redundancy capabilities in place to maintain services for customers when they need it most. — All facilities have battery back-up power and for additional reliability, generators installed at all switching facilities, and many cell site locations. — The company also owns a fleet of portable generators that can be deployed to provide emergency power during extended power outages to those cell sites without permanent generators. — Verizon Wireless also operates “Cell on Wheels” (COW), which are fully functional, generator-powered mobile cell sites that enhance coverage and capacity in a given area. A COW can accommodate both voice and CDMA data services.

So many homes now are without a landline, so this service is crucial to staying in communication during a bad storm or worse, an emergency. Even if your home has a landline, it’s not uncommon for the phone lines to go down during a severe storm, too. Yes, Verizon has been working hard lately to bring better services to their subscribers (and potential subscribers). Don’t think this is merely altruism, though. When you’re stuck in a storm with no power, your chances of paying to download a mobile game is much higher. You’re also more likely to talk or text during that period, which also means boosted revenue for Verizon. Still, it’s nice to know that the phone company is doing something for you — even if it means something for them. [Earth Times Online]]]>