Verizon targets early 2008 launch

“We are recruiting employees at this time,” said Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Hill. “We don’t want to say how many right now.”

Hill confirmed that Verizon will open at least one retail store in Springfield in the first quarter of the year, but she wouldn’t say where. City building permits and job listings on the company’s Web site, www.verizonwireless.com, indicate that Verizon’s first store will be in a retail shopping center under construction at 1155 E. Battlefield Road, at the northwest corner of Battlefield Road and National Avenue.

Little Rock, Ark., developer and business owner Mike Pierce is building the 10,000-square-foot strip center. (See From the Ground Up on page 7.) Listing agent Mike Mellinger of Mellinger Commercial told Springfield Business Journal an undisclosed “national retailer” has signed on for a third of the center, and Verizon has filed a building permit with the city for a $29,000 infill project at the address.

Hill said Verizon also would have a presence in some Springfield Wal-Mart locations and possibly at other big-box retailers in town.

Job listings on Verizon’s Web site suggest the company is hiring at least three sales representatives for a location at 3600 S. Glenstone Ave., which is Circuit City’s address.

Concurrent to its local hiring efforts, Verizon is still installing the remaining infrastructure – antenna and cellular tower sites in Greene and surrounding counties – for its wireless network, which will extend beyond Springfield’s city limits.

“Springfield’s really the primary focus of this expansion, but it will be broader than just Springfield,” said Hill, who declined to discuss what percentage of infrastructure work already has been completed.

Earlier this year, Verizon announced that it invested more than $125 million in 2006 enhancing its digital network in Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois, where it activated 107 new cell sites and upgraded 1,445 existing ones. Much of the expansion occurred in central Missouri, where the company added 80 cell sites to fill coverage gaps along the Interstate 70 corridor between Kansas City and St. Louis, Hill said.

Verizon has plenty of competition waiting for it in the Springfield market, where AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Alltel and T-Mobile already provide service. At last count, AT&T had seven stores in Springfield and one each in Nixa, Republic and Ozark, after phasing out the Cingular brand in May.

AT&T treats competitors the same by playing up its unique offerings, said spokeswoman Chelsey Ilten with St. Louis-based public relations firm Fleishman Hillard.

“The rollover minutes – we’re the only carrier to provide that,” Ilten said. “We have the exclusive contract with the iPhone. We’re the largest supplier of BlackBerrys. … We really listen to the customer, hear what they want, and then … deliver it to them.”

Hill declined to discuss Verizon’s strategy for winning over wireless customers in the Ozarks.

Verizon Communications, the parent company of Verizon Wireless, topped the 2007 list of Fortune 500 companies in the telecom industry, with 2006 revenues of $93.2 billion for a $6.2 billion profit. Texas-based AT&T was a close second with 2006 revenues of $63 billion for a $7.3 billion profit.[[In-content Ad]]