Verizon Wireless enters Goldsboro market
By Turner Walston
Published in News on January 13, 2006 1:47 PM
A new player is entering the wireless communications market in Goldsboro. Verizon Wireless has secured site-clearing and building permits for construction at 1202-B N. Berkeley Blvd., in front of Lowe's Home Improvement.
The building is being developed by Jeff Irvin of Concord Properties in Atlanta. The store is tentatively scheduled to open this spring, said Verizon Wireless spokesman Carly Culbertson.
News-Argus/Turner Walston
As seen from the Lowe's Home Improvement parking lot, this lot at 1202-B N. Berkeley Blvd. is being cleared for construction of a freestanding Verizon Wireless store. Construction should begin next week, Goldsboro Chief Building Inspector Ed Cianfarra said.
Goldsboro is not currently in Verizon Wireless's primary coverage area.
In July, Verizon Wireless purchased spectrum licenses to expand its footprint into new markets in eastern North Carolina.
"Before we open stores, we always get our network in place," Ms. Culbertson said. Verizon Wireless spent more than $175 million in North Carolina last year to improve and expand its coverage areas, she said.
The culmination of the area's inclusion in the network will be the store opening. "That will be kind of the first official, 'We're here, we want you to become a customer,'" she said.
Ms. Culbertson said existing Verizon Wireless customers should begin to see improved coverage over the next several months as the network is established.
One option available to Goldsboro wireless customers is local number portability. Enacted in 2003, the ruling by the Federal Communications Commission allows telephone users to maintain their numbers even if they switch providers.