Business News Online

Verizon Wireless plans to spend $16.8 million in 2010 on adding more capacity to its advanced high-speed 3G network in Indiana, with $1.6 million of that amount dedicated to the Evansville area, according to company officials.

The coverage for the Evansville area includes Patoka, Princeton, Owensville, Haubstadt, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, Chandler, Boonville, New Harmony, Poseyville Wadesville in Indiana.

The statewide enhancements are designed to ensure that Verizon Wireless customers can continue using their wireless devices to access the Internet, view high-quality videos, download music, games and ring tones, and send and receive e-mail.

“We stay well ahead of our customers’ growing needs by studying their data usage habits and test driving our network to experience firsthand the speeds and quality of our 3G network,” said Greg Haller, president Indiana/Kentucky/Michigan Region.

The capacity-improvement project is part of the company’s overall $57.4 million investment planned for its Indiana network this year, which will also include building several new cell sites, said officials.

The project entails installing equipment on hundreds of cell sites across Indiana, thereby increasing data capacity of the network across the state, including by 20 percent in the Evansville market.

Since 2000, Verizon Wireless has invested $1.06 billion on improvements to its wireless network in Indiana.