Verizon boosts investment in Texas
May 18 2022 - 12:00PM
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Texas has seen a large
increase in individuals moving to the Lone Star state. Verizon is
responding to Texas’ exponential and unexpected population increase
by allocating an additional $97.9 million to its local capital
spending to meet growing demands on the network.
From January 2020 to April of this year, more than 200,000
Verizon wireless customers have moved to Texas, and data traffic
has spiked. Since January 2020, busy-hour traffic in Dallas
increased 81.3%, in Houston 84.5%, in San Antonio 74.6%, and Austin
a jaw-dropping 323.2%.
“The pandemic changed many things about how and where people use
their Verizon service,” said Kyle Malady, EVP and President, Global
Networks and Technology. “We are committed to delivering the very
best possible network experience to our customers, including those
who are permanently changing locations to Texas and other places.
We revised our forecasting models and are pouring additional
capital into the state to grow our coverage and capacity to meet
the increased demands.”
Recent and ongoing network expansion
Massive investments the last two years have added much needed
capacity to the network and have accelerated network expansions and
5G growth, both in mobility and fixed wireless access. In 2020 and
2021, Verizon invested over $2 billion in the state of Texas. That
investment was used to expand 4G LTE capacity, introduce and grow
Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service, and support first responders
and the community in natural disaster recovery efforts. This
investment also supports Verizon’s core areas of growth and
innovation across mobility, nationwide broadband, mobile edge
compute and business solutions, the value market and network
monetization.
Consistent capital investments based on consumer usage growth
models are critical in order to stay ahead of demand. The
increase of more than 200,000 devices has shifted those investment
models, so in addition to the annual capital expenditure budgets
allocated for Texas, Verizon will invest $97.9 million above and
beyond its annual CapEx to meet the growing needs.
Investments over the next two years will include building nearly
6,000 new network solutions including new macro towers, small cell
sites and repeaters to increase 4G LTE capacity and coverage,
expanding 5G Ultra Wideband service in areas where 5G currently is
and to new markets throughout Texas, expanding the underlying fiber
footprint that carries data throughout the network and supporting
Texans and first responders in the upcoming hurricane season.
Verizon will also enhance coverage at major population centers and
gathering places including NRG Stadium, BBVA Stadium, Toyota
Stadium, Alamodome, Circuit of The Americas, the Austin Convention
Center, the San Antonio HB Gonzales Convention Center, the PGA
area in Little Elm, DFW Airport, Love Field Airport, and George
Bush Airport.
Verizon remains keenly focused on Texas and providing a highly
reliable network to meet the growing needs in the state.
Media contact: Karen
Schulz864.561.1527Karen.Schulz@verizon.com
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