New Southwest HQ and Call Center Support Verizon Wireless' Commitment to Customer Satisfaction

CHANDLER, AZ and BEDMINSTER, NJ — Verizon Wireless, owner and operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network, announced today the grand opening of its second new customer call center in the U.S. this year. The call center is located in the company's new Southwest Region headquarters, a $20 million, 170,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in the city of Chandler, near Phoenix, that will serve as the regional hub for service and sales support for customers in the Arizona, New Mexico, Las Vegas, and El Paso, Texas markets.

"At Verizon Wireless, we put special emphasis on our network and customer service operations and infrastructure — including state-of-the-art facilities, training and the latest technology. This enables us to attract the best employees and enhance our position as the industry leader in customer loyalty and customer satisfaction," said Lowell McAdam, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Verizon Wireless. "The opening of the Chandler center, with its state-of-the-art technology and highly trained customer service professionals, is another example of our continued commitment to providing outstanding customer service." With 4.6 million new subscribers in the first nine months of 2004 and its industry-leading customer loyalty, Verizon Wireless this year has added more new customers and retained more existing customers than any wireless carrier in the U.S.

The Chandler center will include more than 1,100 workstations for customer service representatives, training facilities, an employee health and wellness center and a company cafeteria. The Southwest Region headquarters and other regional staff will occupy approximately 100 additional workspaces. The center is adding more than 300 full-time customer service positions in 2004, increasing the number of Verizon Wireless employees working in Arizona to more than 1,300. State and city officials were among guests who joined Region President Tami Erwin and other employees for today's grand opening celebration at the facility in the Chandler Freeways Business Park.

Verizon Wireless supports its national customer service efforts through regular upgrades of customer-serving systems, call center enhancements and employee training. This summer, Verizon Wireless opened a new call center in Wilmington, N.C. for more than 1,000 customer service representatives and plans to open its third new call center in North Charleston, S.C., by the end of the year.

All new call center employees participate in a comprehensive, ongoing training program to prepare them to serve customers in their new jobs. Initial training ranges from four to six weeks depending on the specific role of the employee. Each customer service employee then receives between six to eight hours of additional training monthly. The company's focus on continuous training and customer satisfaction helps prepare employees to provide Verizon Wireless customers with exceptional customer service.

The company employs more than 27,000 highly trained employees in more than 20 call centers and 1,200 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores in the U.S. Customers can reach a Verizon Wireless customer service representative at 1-800-2 JOIN IN, or by calling *611 from their Verizon Wireless mobile phone. To learn more about Verizon Wireless' commitment to customer satisfaction, including recent local and national awards and accolades, visit www.verizonwireless.com/satisfaction.  

In addition to customer service enhancements, Verizon Wireless continually strengthens the reach and reliability of its wireless service to better improve the customer experience. Every year since its launch, Verizon Wireless has invested more than any other U.S. wireless provider — more than $4 billion annually — to install new cell sites, grow the network's capacity and engineer other service improvements to further strengthen the nation's most reliable wireless network.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 42.1 million voice and data 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.  

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