Verizon Wireless Partners With Unplugged Games To Launch Mobile Web™ Games

BEDMINSTER, NJ — Verizon Wireless today announced that Unplugged Games, Inc., a leading developer and provider of multiplayer games for wireless devices, will be the first provider of wireless games for Mobile Web™ customers. Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web™ users will have access to networked games through their Internet-enabled wireless phones.

Verizon Wireless customers can access Unplugged Games' flagship product, Word Trader™, through a new Mobile Web™ games folder, which will soon expand to include other games.

"In our search to provide Mobile Web™ customers with innovative and top quality services, we are pleased to add Unplugged Games to our family of content providers. Now in addition to accessing real-time news, weather reports and other important information over their web-enabled phones, Verizon Wireless Mobile Web™ customers can have a little fun, too," said Gary Schulman, President of Wireless Data and Internet Services for Verizon Wireless. "We selected Unplugged Games as our initial games partner, because of their strong wireless offerings, design expertise and products, which will ensure our customers an enjoyable and engaging wireless gaming experience."

"We're tremendously excited to have been chosen as Verizon Wireless' first provider of wireless games and to assist in the launch of their Mobile Web™ games folder," said Eric Goldberg, president of Unplugged Games, Inc. "Because they have the most extensive wireless network and the largest customer base in the nation, the Verizon Wireless partnership significantly furthers our mission to provide platform technology to wireless devices everywhere, while also enhancing wireless data services by providing engaging and entertaining games for customers."

According to a recent report from Datamonitor, wireless gaming is projected to grow to a $6 billion market worldwide by 2004. A recent study by Jupiter Communications notes that wireless applications continue to be the area of the most explosive growth and investment.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S.with 26.3 million wireless voice and data customers and 3.5 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 (NYSE and LSE: VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. The 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 Bedminster, NJ, is 32,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com.

Unplugged Games, Inc.

Unplugged Games was founded in June 2000 by experts in online gaming to foster the birth of the wireless games industry. Unplugged Games develops platform technology to deploy wireless applications to any device, anywhere, and entertainment services exploiting that technology. Its management and technical team have collectively developed more than 100 published games, for businesses including EA, Uproar, Sony Online, AOL, Prodigy, and Interplay. Additional information regarding the company can be found at: www.ungames.com.

###

####