Verizon Wireless Launches New 3G Network in Austin, Texas

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AUSTIN, TX — Continuing to build on its strategy to provide business and individual customers superior voice and data networks in the United States, Verizon Wireless announced today the launch of BroadbandAccess in the Austin metropolitan area on Monday, September 27, 2004.

Austin is the first city in Texas to launch this new technology. In addition to the Austin rollout, Verizon Wireless will be expanding BroadbandAccess' availability in Texas to include the following airports: Dallas Love Field, Dallas/Fort Worth International and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby.

Powered by an Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) third generation (3G) wide- area network, BroadbandAccess commercial service is the fastest commercially available high-speed wide-area network in the United States, with typical user download speeds of 300-500 kilobits per second (kbps) and bursts up to 2 Mbps.

In addition to the Austin market, the company announced BroadbandAccess will be available beginning Monday in 13 major metropolitan markets -- including Atlanta; Baltimore; Kansas City, KS/MO; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL; Milwaukee; New York; Philadelphia; San Diego; Tampa, FL; Washington, D.C. and West Palm Beach, FL -- and more than 20 major airports across the country.

BroadbandAccess provides mobile workers full access to their corporate information, just as if they were attached via a high-speed wired connection, but with the freedom of true mobility. Developed with a range of users in mind, BroadbandAccess allows large enterprises, small-medium businesses and mobile professionals to conduct business anytime, anywhere in the BroadbandAccess coverage area via a secure, true high-speed data connection.

Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess coverage blankets the greater Austin area, extending to south Austin at William Cannon Drive and north to include Cedar Park and Round Rock.

In addition to its ongoing annual capital investment program to build network capacity and coverage, Verizon Wireless expects to invest $1 billion through 2005 to deploy its EV-DO technology nationally. For the past four years, Verizon Wireless has committed $4 billion annually to its capital investment program.

"With BroadbandAccess, Austin businesses and customers now have a reliable access to high-speed Internet -- anytime, anywhere," said Jim O'Brey, director of business sales, Verizon Wireless.

Because BroadbandAccess is backward compatible -- a distinct advantage of using CDMA technology -- customers who travel outside a BroadbandAccess coverage area with an EV-DO device will seamlessly switch to Verizon Wireless' existing NationalAccess network, based on 1xRTT technology.

Working with virtual private network (VPN) connections, business customers can use BroadbandAccess as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet, allowing them to work from any location within the BroadbandAccess coverage area, as if they were in the office. BroadbandAccess, with typical user download speeds of 300-500 kilobits per second (kbps), is ideal for downloading files and business-critical information residing behind corporate firewalls and for accessing e-mail, intranets and the Internet. BroadbandAccess' CDMA EV-DO technology has its own data protection and authentication and is designed to work with a business' existing IT infrastructure and security solutions.

Business customers can access information when they are on the road -- at customer locations, at job sites, in taxis, or on trains -- faster than any competing national wide-area technology. With data transmission bursts up to above 2 Megabits per second (Mbps), BroadbandAccess customers could download a 1 Megabyte email attachment (for example, a small PowerPoint presentation or a large PDF file), or receive three digital pictures (each 400 x 600 pixels) in less than 20 seconds, which is three to four times faster than using EDGE service, and as much as ten times faster than on a competitor's GPRS network.

BroadbandAccess customers can manage their remote access needs with VZAccess Manager, a new customizable tool included with the PC 5220 card that simplifies wireless remote access allowing users to stay connected to business-critical email, company databases, files and the Internet while mobile.

In the upcoming year, Verizon Wireless customers in many major markets will be able to use new BroadbandAccess handsets to enjoy many new fun and visual capabilities. They will be able to experience Get It Now® applications at broadband speed, including multi-player gaming, music and video content, video messaging and other multi-media applications.

BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access for unlimited use with a one-year customer agreement. Verizon Wireless is offering a promotional saving on its first BroadbandAccess device, the Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card, which also provides access to the company's NationalAccess data network. Through December 31, 2004, Verizon Wireless customers can buy the Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card for $99.99 with a two-year customer agreement or $149.99 with a one-year customer agreement after $150 rebate.

For more information on BroadbandAccess and Verizon Wireless data services, please visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. Business customers can contact a Verizon Wireless Business Sales Representative directly at 1-800-VZW-4-BIZ.

As of Monday, September 27, 2004, Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess will be available in the following major metropolitan areas:

  • Atlanta
  • Austin, TX
  • Baltimore
  • Kansas City, KS/MO
  • Las Vegas
  • Los Angeles
  • Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • Milwaukee
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • San Diego
  • Tampa, FL
  • Washington, D.C.
  • West Palm Beach, FL

Within those markets, BroadbandAccess will be available in the following airports:

  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta)
  • Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (Austin, TX)
  • Baltimore-Washington International Airport (Baltimore)
  • Kansas City International Airport (Kansas City, MO)
  • McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas)
  • Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles) / John Wayne-Orange County Airport (Santa Ana, CA)
  • Miami International Airport (Miami)
  • Newark Liberty International Airport (Newark, NJ)
  • Philadelphia International Airport (Philadelphia)
  • San Diego International Airport (San Diego)
  • Tampa International Airport (Tampa, FL)
  • Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Washington, D.C.)
  • Washington Dulles International Airport (Washington, D.C.)
  • Palm Beach International Airport (West Palm Beach, FL)

In addition to the markets and airports above, Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess will be available in the following major airport locations:

  • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Dallas/Fort Worth)
  • Love Field Airport (Dallas)
  • George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston)
  • William P. Hobby Airport (Houston)
  • Jacksonville International Airport (Jacksonville, FL)
  • Louis Armstrong International Airport (New Orleans)
  • Orlando International Airport (Orlando, FL)
  • Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix)

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 40.4 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD; LSE). 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.

NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: materially adverse changes in economic conditions in the markets served by us, an adverse change in the ratings afforded our debt securities or those of Verizon Communications by nationally accredited ratings organizations, the effects of the substantial competition that exists in our markets, which has been intensifying, and which may intensify further as a result of local number portability regulations that allow wireless customers to retain their phone numbers when switching wireless service providers, our ability to obtain sufficient financing to satisfy our substantial capital requirements, including to fund capital expenditures, debt repayment and distributions to our owners, our ability to obtain sufficient spectrum licenses, particularly in our most densely populated areas, our ability to develop future business opportunities, including wireless data services, and to continue to adapt to the changing conditions in the wireless industry, our ability to receive satisfactory service from our key vendors and suppliers, our ability to generate additional subscribers, with acceptable levels of churn, from resellers and distributors of our service, material changes in available technology, and technology substitution that could impact the popularity and usage of our technology, our continued provision of satisfactory service to our subscribers at an acceptable cost, in order to reduce churn, the impact of continued unionization efforts with respect to our employees, regulatory developments, including new regulations that could increase our cost of doing business or reduce demand for our services, developments in connection with existing or future litigation, and changes in our accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on earnings.

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