Enterprise Customers Can Keep Their Numbers When Switching to Verizon Wireless' Award-Winning Network

BEDMINSTER, NJ — Verizon Wireless reminds business customers that beginning on May 24, 2004, all wireless users across the United States will have the freedom to change wireless providers while keeping their existing phone numbers — freeing business customers from service providers that are not meeting their wireless voice and data needs.

Business customers can finally reap the benefits of the nation's most reliable wireless network by moving corporate accounts to Verizon Wireless, which has invested more than $4 billion in each of the past three years to grow capacity and coverage of its wireless networks. Already in the first quarter of 2004, the company has invested an additional $1 billion, installing new cell sites, growing the network's capacity and engineering countless service improvements to further strengthen the nation's largest and most reliable wireless network.

In addition to its industry-leading network investments, Verizon Wireless has committed an incremental $1 billion in 2004 and 2005 to grow its award-winning BroadbandAccess service into a national footprint. With average user speeds of 300-500 kbps, BroadbandAccess is the fastest commercially available broadband wireless network in the nation, and provides business customers speedy connectivity to the Internet, email, corporate data and proprietary programs.

Add the industry's top-ranked customer service, and Verizon Wireless offers a complete recipe for enterprise success in the wireless marketplace.

With teams of specially trained enterprise account managers, Verizon Wireless is committed to providing an easy and painless transition for business customers; the company will design a custom porting plan for organizations with large employee bases, whether those employees are based at a single site or in multiple locations throughout the nation.

Enterprise customers who join Verizon Wireless get great benefits:

• Existing phone numbers operating on the largest, most reliable wireless network in the nation.
• Business associates know the phone numbers already, so there is no need for each employee to update dozens or hundreds of contacts.
• Saving time and money because there is no need to update business cards, Web sites, phone book advertising or company stationary with new phone numbers.

Since local number portability went into effect in the top 100 markets in November 2003, Verizon Wireless has continued to refine the porting process to ensure smooth transitions for its enterprise customers. To prepare for portability, Verizon Wireless spent nearly two years to implement training, staffing and operational processes to make the customer experience of coming to Verizon Wireless from another service provider as easy and automatic as possible.

The company educated its 41,000 employees about portability and how to handle ports, with in-depth training for all customer-facing staff; built the only dedicated porting center — Verizon Wireless' new state-of-the-art facility in Tennessee; and performed extensive testing of new processes in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and in customer service centers.

Businesses interested in taking advantage of the local number portability regulation should keep the following tips in mind in order to make wireless porting hassle-free:

Contact — Contact your Verizon Wireless Account Manager for additional porting information and to coordinate large blocks of porting requests.

Communicate Internally — Communicate within your company that only authorized personnel are able to make changes to your company's accounts, including porting.

Keep it Live — Don't cancel the current service before switching. Numbers must be active to switch.

Know the Details — To ease the process, have a copy of the current contract and account number information to ensure important information is readily available.

Cover the Bases — Have an alternate contact number for emergencies as a backup during the porting process.

Keep Records — Encourage employees to write down contact information from their phones before beginning the porting process.

Prior Commitments — Be sure to satisfy any commitments to the previous service provider. Read the contract carefully to learn about any applicable early termination fees.

Enterprise customers can learn more about local number portability and products and services from the nation's leading wireless service provider by calling a Verizon Wireless Business Specialist at 1-866-899-2862.

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 39 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. To receive broadcast-quality video footage of Verizon Wireless operations, log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless.  

EDITORS NOTE:
A Verizon Wireless video news release and broadcast-quality B-Roll about local number portability is available online. Log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless to preview and request video segments, which can be received in newsrooms digitally, by tape or via satellite. The footage features customers porting their numbers, the porting process in Verizon Wireless stores, industry analyst comments, and special tips for consumers on how to port their numbers.

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