Verizon Wireless Praises Administration's Action On Major 3G Initiative

BEDMINSTER, NJ — President Clinton today issued an Executive Memorandum addressing the need to provide the marketplace with spectrum that will allow the roll-out of Third Generation (3G) wireless services. In addition, his Council of Economic Advisors issued a supporting white paper detailing this roll-out. Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless service provider, made the following statement:

"Verizon Wireless is very encouraged by the announcement by President Clinton that the Administration is moving quickly to implement the agreements reached at this year's World Radiocommunications Conference. The development of 3G wireless services will yield tremendous benefits to U.S. consumers and to the U.S. economy, but additional spectrum must be made available to support its development. We look forward to the Administration's specific plan for making spectrum available to support 3G, and we are committed to working with the FCC, NTIA, and other government agencies on this important initiative."

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 25 million wireless voice and data customers and nearly 4 million paging customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp --now Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) -- and Vodafone Plc (LSE:VOD; NYSE:VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. The new company has a footprint covering nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. Verizon Wireless, headquartered in New York City and Bedminster, NJ, is 30,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company in its Media Center on the Web at: http://www.verizonwireless.com/mediacenter.

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