Verizon Wireless Extends Commanding Lead in Downloadable Applications Arena with Get It Now

BEDMINSTER, NJ — From the BREW Developers Conference in San Diego, Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider, announced today that total downloads on its Get It Now® service have reached more than 70 million since its national launch in September 2002, up from a total of 8.5 million at last year's Conference. Get It Now currently contains a library of 520 applications, including games, productivity tools, information services, ringtones, wallpapers and more. The number of applications has grown dramatically, up from 115 applications at last year's BREW Developers Conference.

"Get It Now is an unmitigated success for Verizon Wireless, the development community and, most importantly, for our customers," said Jim Straight, vice president of data and multimedia services for Verizon Wireless. "There has been significant growth in every quantifiable measure — from the number of applications we offer to total downloads to the number of Get It Now-enabled phones in our customers' hands."

The volume of downloads has skyrocketed to 34 million in the first five months of 2004, led by the popularity of getGAMES, the virtual shopping aisle that offers puzzle and strategy games, action and sports games, classics based on popular board games and games based on favorite television shows and top movie titles. getGAMES also offers 35 multiplayer games, providing the chance for players across the country to compete against each other. From January through May 2004, Verizon Wireless customers downloaded more than 12 million game applications for a total of more than 30 million game downloads since the launch of the service nearly two years ago.

getIM, which allows customers to send and receive instant messages on their wireless phones using pre-existing accounts with any of the three major instant message (IM) providers, is another success story. Verizon Wireless is the only wireless service provider supporting all three IM applications on a single downloadable client. Since the launch of IM applications in December 2003, customers have downloaded the IM client more than 464,000 times, sending and receiving more than 125 million billed messages.

"We know what interests our customers in new Get It Now applications: powerful brand names, sports games tied to well-known players and successful franchises, and games popular on consoles," said Paul Palmieri, executive director of business development for Verizon Wireless. "But what really drives adoption is how well an application works on the handset. We are committed to constantly introducing new applications that appeal to both the fun-loving and practical sides of our customers."

Other popular aisles in the Get It Now virtual store are getTONES and getPIX. getTONES offers customers thousands of ringtone selections, consisting of pop, hip hop, country, classical and even unusual body sounds. getPIX provides a variety of downloadable applications to view, store and share photos.

Get It Now is available on 13.3 million handsets — one-third of all handsets currently being used by Verizon Wireless' 40 million customers. New applications are introduced every Wednesday, so customers can keep their handsets up to date with the latest releases.

Virtual shopping aisles include getGAMES, getTONES, getGOING, getPIX, getFUN and getMESSAGING — giving Verizon Wireless customers an easy way to find what they want, when they want it.

"Verizon Wireless works with leading mobile application developers, whose dedication to designing top-notch downloadables has played a significant role in the success of Get It Now," said Ray Taylor, executive director of consumer multimedia services for Verizon Wireless. "Content providers including JAMDAT, Disney, Atlas Mobile, Sorrent and Mforma, provide outstanding applications that our customers enjoy, and we look forward to building upon these relationships even as we continue to reach out to new content providers in the future."

For more information on Get It Now, visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow.  

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the nation's leading provider of wireless communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice and data network and 40 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To receive broadcast-quality video footage of Verizon Wireless operations, log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless.  

About Get It Now
Get It Now from Verizon Wireless puts a virtual software store inside a wireless phone. Customers with Get It Now-capable phones can download applications over the air and purchase them from their phones. getTXT, getIM and getEMAIL help customers stay in touch and communicate with others. getGAMES keeps customers entertained, while getGOING applications, made for today's mobile lifestyle, offers restaurant location services with maps, directions and more. View and share digital photos with getPIX, check out Web cams with getFLIX or identify incoming callers by assigning a unique ring with getTONES. getALERTS keeps customers informed while getBROWSING lets them access the Web from their wireless phone.

Get It Now is a registered trademark of Verizon Wireless.

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