US : Comarco announced that Comarco's testing equipment is employed by Verizon Wireless in its ongoing nationwide network quality testing program conducted by the company's real-life test men and women. Verizon Wireless has enhanced its network testing capabilities over the past two years, nearly doubling its nationwide fleet of drive test vehicles and adding capabilities such as 1xEV-DO Rev.A testing as it brings new wireless services to market.
"We are very pleased to be playing a key role in Verizon Wireless' nationwide network quality testing program," said Mark Chapman, senior vice president and general manager for Comarco Wireless Test Solutions. "We believe that Verizon Wireless' approach to competitive benchmarking is a key component of the company's ability to achieve its 'most reliable' status in the nation's wireless world. We greatly value this long term relationship with Verizon Wireless and look forward to supporting its needs as the company continues to expand this program with advanced data, video and voice service testing."
Verizon Wireless test engineers nationwide are dedicated full-time to drive testing nearly one million miles annually in specially equipped, company-owned and -operated vehicles employing Comarco's test equipment to measure the performance of the company's wireless network as well as that of competitors' networks.
"The data gathered by Comarco's test systems helps us make decisions on network enhancements and investments that provide optimum performance and the best service for our customers," said David McCarley, executive director-Network at Verizon Wireless. "We chose Comarco because we found their product met our stringent requirements for benchmarking the wide array of technologies deployed in the U.S., and does so reliably."
Using Comarco's test equipment, Verizon Wireless' full-time employees conduct more than three million voice call attempts and more than 16 million data tests annually on the Verizon Wireless network and the networks of competitors. As part of the testing program, Comarco test systems generate phonically diverse "conversations" to test wireless network performance. Each call is categorized as either a successful call, an ineffective attempt (a call that is blocked) or a lost call (a call that connects, but drops). Automated testing is also performed on data services with tests specifically designed to measure performance from the subscriber's perspective.
After completing the routes, network teams download the test results to Verizon Wireless network test centers for compilation and analysis. The data is used not only to compare performance with competitors', but also to help engineers plan the company's network improvement program, including placement of new cellular sites and expansion of existing call capabilities in growing communities. Last year, Verizon Wireless spent more than $6 billion to build and expand its nationwide wireless network.
About Comarco Equipment
Comarco has developed performance evaluation and network diagnostic equipment for the wireless industry since its inception, shipping its first products in 1990. The company develops the majority of its technology in-house and enjoys a deserved reputation both for the quality of its products and the innovation of its solutions. Comarco has a wealth of expertise in all major air interface technologies and a deep understanding of the problems and solutions of complex network performance issues.
