Verizon Wireless Is Primed For Number Portability

BEDMINSTER, NJ — On November 24, 2003 American consumers can switch their wireless service provider without changing their telephone number, or bring their landline telephone number to a wireless service account. This event, known as local number portability (LNP), requires wireless service providers and landline carriers to cooperate for the good of the customer. Committed to making the process as simple as possible for its new and existing customers, Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless service provider, has been working for more than a year to make number portability happen: Verizon Wireless has completed a comprehensive training program for all of its sales channels and employees; modified its network; launched two Web sites with information for individual consumers and businesses; developed an infrastructure to support all billing and point of sales systems; and integrated LNP into all of its business processes.

Verizon Wireless has trained all its 41,000 employees, including nearly 1,000 employees in its new Customer Service Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on the porting process so that all customers porting into or out of Verizon Wireless will have a consistent experience. Each of the employees at the Murfreesboro Customer Service Center, the hub of the company's porting activities, are specialists in the switching process and will track porting requests, troubleshoot any issues with a porting request and call customers to resolve hiccups in the porting process. Also, customers who submit a request to port in to Verizon Wireless can call a special toll-free number to check the status of their port once the process has begun.

For more than a year, an integrated project team has been working together to identify and upgrade every aspect of the company's operations that will be affected to ensure that the Verizon Wireless network continues to be the most reliable network in the country. Each of the established systems-from billing to customer service to activation and call routing-has been changed to allow for number portability.

Outside of network architecture modifications, additional switches, software overlays, business-process changes and training, Verizon Wireless has been testing and re-testing the porting process with as many service providers as possible to proactively identify any potential glitches in the porting process to ultimately provide a positive porting experience for its customers.

"Verizon Wireless has led the industry in demonstrating a commitment to ensuring barrier-free porting for customers. And while two and half hours is our goal for uncomplicated ports, initially the porting process may take up to one day," said Lowell McAdam, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Verizon Wireless.

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 36 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.

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