Verizon Wireless Unveils Expanded National Test Lab
Facility Sets Standards, Ensures Reliability of Wireless Phones, Data Equipment and Applications
BEDMINSTER, N.J., Aug. 14 -- Verizon Wireless today unveiled its expanded national test lab, designed to ensure that every device used on the company's network meets the highest standards of reliability and provides customers with the best possible wireless experience.
"The work that's done here is key to Verizon Wireless' industry leadership - it's the crown jewel of the company's research and testing facilities," said Dick Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon Communications. "It's one of the reasons more people use our brand than any other wireless brand."
The Verizon Wireless national test lab has set the standard for verifying the company's handset and data equipment reliability since 1987. The culmination of a year-long construction project, the new 11,000 square foot facility is four times its original size and provides new areas for rigorous hands-on testing, evaluation of new applications and technologies, and confidential collaboration with manufacturers and software vendors. Hundreds of engineers and representatives from the leading manufacturers of wireless equipment and technologies from North America, Europe and Asia pass through its doors every year to meet with members of the 37-member Verizon Wireless test lab team.
"The phone or device we test is the customer's window to our network and must equal the network's reliability and quality to ensure the very best customer experience," said Lou LaMedica, Verizon Wireless Test Lab director and a 40-year veteran of the telecommunications industry. "Our job is to verify that manufacturers' devices and applications perform as advertised before they are released for sale to our customers."
Composed of a series of more than a dozen individual laboratories, the facility serves as a product and applications incubator, testing everything from handset durability and voice call quality to data throughput, camera phone picture resolution and on-demand multimedia services. Much of the state-of-the-art testing equipment was designed and standardized by the company's specially trained test engineers. Each year, testing at the Bedminster facility includes:
* Review of more than 300 manufacturer submissions and some 85 individual devices.
* As many as 100 different tests per device, per submission (Many devices undergo multiple rounds of review.)
* Verification of up to 4.2 million lines of code per device
Many test rooms resemble fortified vaults and are lined with metal screening to shield devices from external live radio waves, keeping unwanted signals out and test signals in. A life-like test mannequin head and torso, known as "Mr. Head," sits in a soundproof booth and is outfitted with $5,000 ears that funnel sound just like human ears to test handset microphone volume and clarity. Additional testing extends beyond the walls of the Bedminster lab to the field where engineers test devices in real-life situations across Verizon Wireless' national footprint as well as in Europe and Asia.
Verizon Wireless' systematic approach to testing hardware also is applied in Walnut Creek, CA, in a facility dedicated to testing wireless software applications such as games, over-the-air music downloads and GPS-based services. Another lab in Southlake, TX, verifies software and hardware compatibilities on a simulated Verizon Wireless network. The labs are just a part of the company's $40 billion investment in its nationwide network since 2000.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 62.1 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 67,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
SOURCE: Verizon Wireless