Sustained investment year after year -- $11.2 billion in 2016, combined with deployment of new technologies, leads to repeat of national and Georgia top network awards by Root Metrics

Ever wondered how millions of visitors a year can connect when visiting the riverfront and historic gardens of Savannah, the exciting museums and cultural offerings of Atlanta, and everywhere in between? It doesn’t happen by accident.

In 2016, Verizon Wireless invested over $265 million to provide residents, visitors and businesses with cutting-edge technology and consistently reliable wireless service throughout Georgia. Since 2000, Verizon has invested $122 billion across the U.S. to maintain the most reliable network for voice calls, multimedia communication, media consumption and internet connectivity. That sustained investment means the best network for our customers. It results in the deployment of new technologies to provide consistently fast data speeds, the largest 4GLTE network, and reliability that can’t be matched.

Verizon was just awarded another clean sweep of independent third party RootMetrics national awards including having the top-rated network performance for the 7th consecutive time nationally: video message.

And, after winning in every category in the latest RootMetrics testing, Verizon was named the #1 overall network in Georgia for the seventh consecutive time.

“This distinction by a scientific, respected third party is a reflection of the extensive investment our company makes each day so that our customers have around-the-clock access to exceptional voice calling and lightning fast 4G LTE data services for web surfing, video chatting and uploading photos to social media,” said Sergei Mislevy, Network Executive Director for Verizon Wireless in the southeast. “Verizon is committed to providing the best network for our customers, and we continually invest to ensure reliability. $122 billion is a massive investment – the discount carriers can’t hold a candle to our investment. We know customers count on us and we’ll continue to make sure we extend our lead over the competition to provide our customers with the best experience, leading the wireless industry.”

Network Improvements for Georgia

That level of consistent recognition takes planning and we’ve been executing those plans for Georgia all year. Noteworthy statewide enhancements include the addition of new small cells across the state in places such as the Savannah Historical District delivering service along River Street and the Saint Patrick’s parade route. These small cells consist of a radio, antenna, power and a fiber connection and are strategically positioned on street lights, sides of buildings or other structures. They operate within Verizon’s existing network coverage area to add additional 4G LTE capacity where it’s needed most – in heavy traffic areas. Other enhancements included increasing LTE capacity by 25% at existing towers throughout Augusta including Fort Gordon, deploying a new in-building system at the Georgia World Congress Center, and deploying small cells along Peachtree Road in downtown and midtown Atlanta improving coverage and capacity around Woodruff Arts Center, the High Museum of Arts, Peachtree Center Mall and Hard Rock Café. The 2016 investments also included the launch of Verizon’s next gen technology LTE Advanced that provides 50 percent faster peak speeds for customers.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York City, has a diverse workforce of 162,000 and generated nearly $132 billion in 2015 revenues. Verizon operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with 113.7 million retail connections nationwide. The company also provides communications and entertainment services over mobile broadband and the nation’s premier all-fiber network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide.

VERIZON’S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: News releases, feature stories, executive biographies and media contacts are available at Verizon’s online News Center at www.verizon.com/news/. News releases are also available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.

Rankings based on the RootMetrics® US National and California RootScore® Reports: 2H 2016. Tested with best commercially available smartphones on 4 national mobile networks across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of Verizon. Visit www.rootmetrics.com for more details.