Verizon Wireless added a handful of new markets to its growing CDMA2000 1x EV-DO coverage area and at the same time lowered the price for accessing the network.
The carrier’s high-speed wireless data service is available in Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Denver; Louisville, Ky.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Verizon Wireless said the EV-DO coverage included major metropolitan areas and airports.
The expansion brings Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO total coverage to 61 markets across the country and 39 of the nation’s top 50 markets. Verizon Wireless has said it planned to cover more than half the country’s population by the end of the year.
“We made the promise that Verizon Wireless’ broadband network would be widely available by the end of 2005, and here we are today, fulfilling that promise,” said Dick Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Verizon Wireless. “It should come as no surprise that we are ahead of schedule-after all, this is what we do, we build networks.”
In connection with the expansion, Verizon Wireless also lowered the price of unlimited access to its BroadbandAccess EV-DO network using a PC Card for current voice customers by 25 percent to $60 per month. The price cut matches what Verizon Wireless charges for unlimited access to its slower speed NationalAccess 1x network.
Customers not signed-up for a Verizon Wireless voice plan are still charged $80 per month for unlimited access. Verizon’s handset-based Vcast service remains at $15 per month for unlimited access.
