By Catherine Sbeglia Nin
According to The Palm Beach Post, more than 547,000 people have traded their out-of-state driver’s licenses during 2021 for one from Florida. This, the news outlet goes on to say, is a 40 per cent increase from 2020 and is almost 20 per cent greater than the five-year average between 2017 and 2021. In response to the mass relocation, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Verizon announced that it is allocating an additional US$149 million to its Florida capital spending to meet “skyrocketing demands” on the network, the result of the more than a quarter million devices that have shifted over to the southern state.
In a press release, the carrier referenced a widespread increase in rush-hour traffic throughout the states. Traffic increased by 364 per cent since January 2020 in Miami, 135 per cent in Tampa and 408 per cent in Orlando, Verizon said.
“We are used to seeing seasonal increases in population in Florida and have always accommodated those temporary fluctuations with temporary network assets to add capacity at various times of the year,” said EVP and president of global networks and technology, Kyle Malady. “With the evolution of the distributed workforce resulting from the pandemic, we’re seeing more people permanently change locations to Florida, and other places. Experiencing the impact of this influx, we revised our forecasting models and are pouring additional capital into the state to grow our coverage and capacity to meet the increased demands.”
Verizon said it will build more than 3,500 new network solutions including new macro towers, small cell sites and repeaters to increase 4G LTE capacity and coverage, expanding 5G Ultra Wideband service. Additionally, the carrier is prioritizing enhancing coverage at major population centers and gathering places including Disney World, Orange County Convention Center and Amalie Arena.
Though for different reasons, Verizon has actually already invested heavily in Florida, particularly in the Miami and Tampa markets where Super Bowl and Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix preparation efforts have accelerated network expansions. The carrier revealed that over the past two years, it has invested over US$1 billion in the state of Florida.
