BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon customers in Birmingham, Ala. are enjoying all of the benefits of America's most reliable network, according to the Metro RootScore® Report, conducted by Seattle-based RootMetrics. The results are in, and Verizon won the Overall RootScore award in Birmingham, scoring 98.3.

Scores are based on RootMetrics testing performed from December 2 through December 9, 2015. The company evaluated all four U.S. wireless providers in six network performance categories: overall, reliability, speed, data, call and text performance.

RootMetrics uses scientific methods to conduct their rigorous testing regimen, based on where people actually use their mobile devices. Using off-the-shelf, unaltered smartphones, RootMetrics staff drove 1,269 miles and included 37 indoor locations to measure and analyze key performance indicators, which provide an unbiased characterization of network attributes in and around the city of Birmingham.

"RootMetrics' thorough testing process replicates the real-world experience of wireless customers," said Kate Jay, Verizon spokesperson. "This latest award corroborates the results of our own internal network testing and confirms that Verizon delivers the best network performance for customers."

In addition to winning RootMetrics' Overall RootScore Award for Birmingham, Verizon also received the No.1 ranking in RootMetrics' State RootScore Report for Alabama for the first half of 2015. Verizon's wireless network was recognized by RootMetrics as outranking the competition with the most wins or ties by state in the first half of 2015, with 47 Overall Performance RootScore Awards, including the state of Alabama.

Verizon invested more than $10 billion last year to improve and fortify its network, which covers 98 percent of the U.S. population. The company continues to enhance its network by deploying new technology, such as small cells, distributed antenna systems and XLTE, which uses Verizon's AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum to double 4G LTE bandwidth in cities coast to coast, with faster peak speeds and greater capacity than before. This means that more wireless interactions can occur with more people in the same location, so more people can send photos, download videos, surf the Internet, and use real-time navigation. For more information on the Verizon network, visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) employs a diverse workforce of 177,900 and generated more than $127 billion in 2014 revenues. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 110.8 million retail connections nationwide. Headquartered in New York, Verizon also provides communications and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/news/.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts and other information are available at Verizon's online News Center at www.verizon.com/news/. News releases are also available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.

Network rankings based on RootMetrics Birmingham (December 2015) and 50 State (Jan-Jun 2015) RootScore Reports. Performance rankings of four mobile networks rely on scores calculated from random samples across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of Verizon. Visit www.rootmetrics.com for more details.

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SOURCE Verizon Wireless