North American Aerospace Defense Command will again use Verizon‘s communications services in this year’s hotline service to help children track Santa Claus.
Verizon said Thursday it added 14,000 new augmentations, including 5G cell sites, network-based virtualization and fiber deployments, to support volunteers in answering children’s calls under the NORAD Tracks Santa program.
Almost 600 volunteers from Verizon and other NORAD partners will operate at the command’s call center for the current iteration of the program, which will use the 1-877-446-6723 hotline on Dec. 24 to accept calls.
The company has helped NORAD answer children’s questions about Santa over the past 19 years.
“The Verizon elves are honored to provide the nation’s most reliable network on which NORAD can track Santa for millions of children again this year,” said Jennifer Chronis, senior vice president of public sector at Verizon and a 2021 Wash100 awardee.