Verizon Provides Wireless Companies with Olympic Updates for Their Users

NEW YORK — Thanks to Verizon, Olympic fans on the go can get live updates on their favorite events and medal winners on their wireless phone. The sporting updates will be provided to wireless companies by Verizon LiveSourceSM directory assistance operators through Feb. 28.

"We've been providing scores of professional sporting events through our enhanced directory assistance service for over a year and that's been a popular service," said Kitty Linder, president of Verizon LiveSource. "We expanded that offering to include information on the Olympics since this year's games are in the U.S. and we knew enthusiastic fans would appreciate easy, quick access to event times, scores and medal winners."

LiveSource operators can provide callers with dates and times of events, individual and team results and medal winners by country. Information is updated daily. The fee for the 4-1-1 call is set by the caller's wireless carrier.

Sophisticated infrastructure, skilled workers and access to extensive databases enable LiveSource, formerly Verizon Operator Services, to offer an array of information services beyond just phone numbers, including restaurant and movie listings, weather information and sports scores. These services are attractive to wireless companies, competitive local exchange carriers and long distance carriers.

Among the new wholesale services available from Verizon operators are:
• Restaurant reviews by city, cuisine type, restaurant name or street name

• Movie listings of all major and independent theaters in the United States

• Weather reports for all 50 states and 2,400 international locations

• Sports scores for professional hockey, football, basketball and baseball as well as NCAA football and basketball

• Category search by type of business and geographic area

• Stock quotes

• Horoscopes

• International directory assistance

• Directory assistance in Spanish

"Operators are the core of our team, and will continue to deliver the best in service quality from these new data resources," Linder said.

Verizon operators currently support the information needs of key wireless, competitive local exchange companies and interexchange carriers. In monthly surveys, customers rate the service they receive from Verizon's operators "good" or "excellent" more than 95 percent of the time.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 132.1 million access line equivalents and 29.4 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with more than $67 billion in annual revenues and approximately 247,000 employees, Verizon's global presence extends to more than 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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