Rural areas of Sampson County and northeastern Orange County are now covered by Verizon's 4G LTE network.

Verizon has added 140 4G LTE-enabled cellular towers in North Carolina this year, and says its LTE network now covers more than 87 percent of the state.

The cellular provider began rolling out its LTE network in 2011, and plans to cover 100 percent of its 3G footprint by mid 2013.

J.D. Power and Associates released its latest network quality study Thursday. Verizon Wireless topped the firm's rankings in five out six national regions including the Southeast. U.S. Cellular was ranked highest in the North Central region.

The study surveyed 27,000 customers regarding voice, text messaging and data usage.
 

Verizon has unveiled its long-rumored sharing plan. The new plan will let consumers share connect up to ten wireless devices on a plan.

Verizon Wireless is launching several new devices including the LG Spectrum today. Other devices of note are variants of the Motorola Razr, Motorola Droid 4, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot. Here is a gallery of the new hardware from Big Red.

Meet the Lara Croft of the Droid family. With seemingly impossible proportions, the Motorola Razr comes dressed in Kevlar and stainless steel while packing serious hardware ready for action.

Durham residents and visitors who are Verizon Wireless customers can send a text message to 911 for emergency help as part of a six-month trial starting today.

The Durham Emergency Communication Center is the first 911 center in North Carolina, as well as the second 911 center in the United States, to enable “text-to-911” technology using 911 digits and live call takers, according to a news release.

“The way people communicate is evolving, and 911 centers across the nation are evaluating how to adapt to the digital age we’re currently living in and offer multiple ways for people to reach out to 911 when they need help,” said James Soukup, director of the Durham Emergency Communications Center. “When asked to participate in this trial, we went into it as an opportunity to help folks who are hearing impaired and potential victims who can't afford for someone to hear them make a 911 voice call.”

AT&T officials said today that Raleigh and Charlotte will be among the company's first markets to get upgraded telecommunications service known as 4G.

AT&T customers in two North Carolina cities will get 4G service sometime later this year, said Alison Hall, AT&T's vice president and general manager for consumer markets in the Carolinas.

With competitors marketing 4G services for months now, AT&T is scrambling to meet its own customers' demand for quick downloading of gargantuan files and glitch-free video capability.

4G, a shorthand for fourth-generation technology, allows for wireless Internet speeds that are 5 to 10 times faster than speeds available today. Customers are increasingly demanding those levels of capability to download video, movies and other data to smartphones and other wireless devices.

"Raleigh's going to be on the forefront of that [technology] evolution," Hall said.

Verizon Wireless, the giant mobile carrier, is planning to hire 100 people in North Carolina as part of a broader plan to hire 900 people nationally.

The New Jersey-based company has 114 locations in this state, including 71 retail centers.

Verizon Wireless, with more than 3,200 employees in North Carolina and 79,000 nationwide, is hiring in retail sales, customer service and support channels.

The company, which has grown to 93 million customers nationwide, said it's hiring to meet an increase in customer demand.

Verizon Wireless will be introducing its brand of high-speed wireless broadband service in the state by the end of this year, as the wireless industry races to meet customer demand for instantaneous data traffic anywhere.

The technology, commonly known as 4G, will offer wireless speeds 10 times faster to the company's current 3G wireless technology.

It will be comparable to an office broadband connection, said company spokeswoman Karen Schulz. 4G will allow quick video downloads and video streaming anywhere on the Verizon Wireless network that's 4G enabled.

Verizon plans to introduce the service in Charlotte this year as part of a first wave of rollouts in 38 markets.