Verizon preps wireless play on Long Island

Verizon Wireless plans to launch broadband wireless Internet access across much of Long Island, complete with special content tailored for cell phones.

The firm said it has been upgrading technology at cell-phone sites and installing new software that will allow it to offer EV- DO, or Evolution Data Optimized phone service.

Verizon Wireless will be the first cell-phone provider on Long Island to launch the technology, which offers rapid Internet and video content to be downloaded onto devices.

Verizon Wireless' system will let people use wireless air cards to obtain Internet access on laptops at speeds of up to 800 kilobytes-per-second and EV-DO-equipped cell phones to obtain access to everything from CNN to Sesame Street.

When it launches in a few weeks, the system will be available on much of the South Shore, with scattered access elsewhere on the Island.

Verizon already offers the service in New York City.

David Samberg, a Verizon Wireless spokes-man, said the company was able to push ahead with wireless broadband by modifying equipment rather than replacing devices.

In order to use the system, customers must have EV-DO-equipped cell phones, capable of receiving Vcast, a special service that offers three-dimensional images in games and video.

Verizon Wireless wouldn't break out how much it spent to provide the service on Long Island. However, it spent close to $200 million this year in the metro New York area on maintaining, expanding and upgrading its network. The firm in 2004 spent about $500 million in the area as it launched a new generation of wireless Internet access on its phones.

Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.