To ensure its customers have quality wireless service during the 191th St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities in Savannah, Ga., Verizon Wireless has enhanced its 4G LTE network by two temporary Cell On Wheels (COWs) in the downtown area. COWs are fully functional generator-powered cell sites that can replace or enhance network coverage and capacity in a given area.

For the first time, parade attendees will also be able to utilize Verizon’s XLTE technology, which launched in Savannah in June 2014.  XLTE utilizes Verizon’s AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum, which allows Verizon to deliver significantly increased capacity over its high-speed 4G LTE network.  This means more customers in high-traffic locations can access the company’s most advanced technology at the same time to send photos, download videos, surf the Internet and use other popular applications on their smartphones, tablets and other devices during times of peak usage. The technology is particularly effective in enhancing wireless network performance in settings with a concentrated group of high-data demand customers, such as the St. Patrick’s Day parade.  

In recent years, wireless usage has dramatically increased during the parade. During the 2014 event, the Verizon Wireless network handled 202,000 minutes of use and more than 487 Gigabytes of data, an increase of 108 percent year over year.