Teams of engineers and technicians from Verizon Wireless continue to upgrade and reconfigure Alltel infrastructure into the more advanced Verizon Wireless EV-DO Rev A network. The company announced that network integration and enhancement recently has been completed in the Lake City, Ocala and Gainesville areas of Florida. The Jacksonville market was the first to be completed in Florida earlier this year. As part of this integration, all calls in North Florida now will be routed through the $40 million Verizon Wireless "super-switch" in Jacksonville, versus a series of older Alltel switching facilities. Tallahassee and the Florida Panhandle are the next areas in Florida to be addressed by the company's network teams, with the entire state expected to be integrated by 2011.
Across the state, more than 700 cell sites and several large switching facilities will eventually be upgraded and incorporated into the Verizon Wireless network. This includes vast amounts of hardware and software enhancement and standardization.
A major challenge, faced by Verizon Wireless engineers for the very first time, included successfully overlaying and transitioning the network in former Alltel areas from a 850 MHz frequency to a 1900 MHz wireless signal.
Another engineering success featured a hybrid roaming connection (free of roaming charges) so Alltel handsets and cell sites could communicate reliably with the Verizon Wireless network before more permanent hardware and software updates were made. Technicians then executed a complex three-phase "cut-over" in North Florida, stretching to the Georgia state line, when they transitioned and turned on former Alltel network resources. All these areas were then "drive-tested" by real-life test teams in high-tech vehicles that form the basis of the famous Verizon Wireless TV Test Man.
About Verizon Wirelesshttp://www.verizonwireless.com
- In January 2009, Verizon Wireless completed its purchase of Alltel Corporation for approximately $5.9 billion. The deal added about 12.9 million customers.
