Verizon Wireless Extends Wireless Broadband Network To Litchfield County, Connecticut

EAST HARTFORD, CT — Continuing to build on its strategy to provide superior voice and data networks to businesses and mobile professionals in the United States, Verizon Wireless today announced the expansion of wide-area wireless broadband service to parts of Litchfield County through its BroadbandAccess and V CAST offerings.

The high-speed wireless broadband network expansion, based on the company's Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) network technology, creates coverage in the communities of Torrington, Harwinton, Collinsville, New Milford, New Hartford, Woodbury and Watertown. The new coverage footprint includes:

• Rt. 8 from Waterbury to Winchester
• Rt. 7 from Brookfield to Northern New Milford
• Rt. 202 from Collinsville to Torrington

"This expansion is part of our continuing focus on investing in our network reliability and providing innovative high-speed data services across the country," said Ken Dixon, New England Region president for Verizon Wireless. "Customers within the new coverage areas of Litchfield County can now access their Outlook^® calendars, the Internet, e-mail and other critical information at increased speeds."

Verizon Wireless was the first national wireless provider to commercially launch a high-speed wireless broadband network in the United States. BroadbandAccess, available to more than 200 million people, delivers average download speeds of 400 to 700 kilobits per second. The service features the ability to connect to the Internet using a PC Card that slides directly into most laptop computers and enables a download of a 1 Megabyte e-mail attachment (the equivalent of a small PowerPoint® presentation or a large PDF file) in about 20 seconds.

As an example of the benefits that Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess provides to mobile professionals, construction supervisors can capture important details about building projects and wirelessly transmit the information to the contractor; food and beverage company representatives can re-order stock wirelessly while at the point of sale; and physicians can write prescriptions, enter orders and manage other tasks via PDAs or laptops.

The company's high-speed network also enables its V CAST multimedia service, which offers consumers the ability to download full-song tracks right to Verizon Wireless phones. The V CAST Music on demand service includes access to a catalog of more than 1.5 million songs and offers video content on demand, including current news, weather, sports and entertainment programming. V CAST also allows customers to download and play cutting-edge 3D games for an additional charge. To access V CAST video content and games, customers need a V CAST-enabled phone and either a $15.00 monthly subscription, or a $3.00 daily subscription, added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan.

For a limited time, Verizon Wireless customers with a new or existing voice plan can receive unlimited BroadbandAccess service for Internet browsing, e-mail and intranet access for $59.99 monthly access. A new two-year customer agreement is required. For non-voice customers, BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access with a new one- or two-year customer agreement.

Verizon Wireless has invested $35 billion in the last seven years -- $5 billion on average every year since the company was formed -- to increase the coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new services.

To learn more about the benefits of BroadbandAccess, visit www.verizonwireless.com or any Verizon Wireless retail location including stores in Brookfield at 15 Federal Road, Simsbury at 530 Bushy Hill Road and Torrington at 1891 East Main Street.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 57 million customers. The largest US wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 60,000 employees nationwide. The company 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 preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.  

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