Verizon Wireless Extends "3G" Network to Los Angeles; Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's Domestic Violence Unit among First to Use Network in Region

IRVINE, CA — Continuing to build on its strategy to provide business and individual customers superior voice and data networks in the United States, Verizon Wireless announced today the launch of BroadbandAccess in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Through the Verizon Wireless HopeLine^SM program, the company also presented a grant of the BroadbandAccess service to Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo for use by prosecutors in the city's Domestic Violence Unit.

"In BroadbandAccess cities wireless consumers are no longer restrained by the limitations of technologies that anchor them to wireless 'hot spots' inside hotel lobbies and coffee shops to get high Internet access speeds," said Marni Walden, regional president, Verizon Wireless. "That's because BroadbandAccess is about miles of coverage, not square feet." Walden added, "The donation of BroadbandAccess service to the Domestic Violence Unit in the city attorney's office is an example of how Verizon Wireless puts its products and services to work to benefit people in the community, specifically to promote domestic violence awareness and help victims of family violence -- children, seniors and spouses -- transition to a peaceful and fruitful life."

BroadbandAccess provides mobile workers access to their corporate information, just as if they were attached via a high-speed wired connection, but with the freedom of true mobility. Developed with a range of users in mind, BroadbandAccess allows large enterprises, small-medium businesses and mobile professionals to conduct business anytime, anywhere in the BroadbandAccess coverage area via a secure, true high-speed data connection.

In the greater Los Angeles market, BroadbandAccess is now available throughout Orange County and portions of Los Angeles County. In Los Angeles County, BroadbandAccess is available both south and southwest of the following communities all the way to the Pacific Ocean: Hawaiian Gardens, Long Beach, Carson, Gardena, South Los Angeles, Morningside Park, Windsor Hills, Culver City, downtown Los Angeles, West Los Angeles and Brentwood. BroadbandAccess is also available in the city of Avalon on the island of Catalina.

Powered by an Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) third generation (3G) wide-area network, BroadbandAccess commercial service is one of the fastest wide-area wireless Internet access services available in the nation, with typical user download speeds of 300-500 kilobits per second (kbps).

In addition to its ongoing annual capital investment program to build network capacity and coverage, Verizon Wireless expects to invest $1 billion through 2005 to deploy its EV-DO technology nationally. For the past four years, Verizon Wireless has committed $4 billion annually to its capital investment program. In California, the company has invested $3 billion in its network since the company was founded in June 2000.

Because BroadbandAccess is backward compatible -- a distinct advantage of using CDMA technology -- customers who travel outside a BroadbandAccess coverage area with an EV-DO device will seamlessly switch to Verizon Wireless' existing NationalAccess network, based on 1xRTT technology.

With BroadbandAccess, business customers can access information when they are on the road -- at customer locations, at job sites, in taxis, or on trains -- faster than any competing national wide-area technology. With data transmission bursts up to above 2 Megabits per second (Mbps), BroadbandAccess customers could download a 1 Megabyte email attachment (for example, a small PowerPoint presentation or a large PDF file), or receive three digital pictures (each 400 x 600 pixels) in less than 20 seconds.

In the upcoming year, Verizon Wireless customers in many major markets will be able to use new BroadbandAccess handsets to enjoy many new fun and visual capabilities. They will be able to experience Get It Now® applications at broadband speed, including multi-player gaming, music and video content, video messaging and other multi-media applications.

BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access for unlimited use with a one-year customer agreement. Verizon Wireless is offering a promotional saving on its first BroadbandAccess device, the Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card, which also provides access to the company's NationalAccess data network. Through December 31, 2004, Verizon Wireless customers can buy the Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card for $99.99 with a two-year customer agreement or $149.99 with a one-year customer agreement after $150 rebate.

Verizon Wireless also embraces a philosophy of commitment to the community. Its exclusive HopeLine program is multi-faceted, primarily focusing on the prevention of domestic violence and increasing community awareness of this national epidemic. Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program also makes financial grants to regional and national domestic violence organizations, such as the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and other select community interest groups. In 2003, Verizon Wireless awarded more than $1.25 million in grants of cash, phones and free airtime to domestic violence prevention agencies in the western United States alone.

For more information on BroadbandAccess and Verizon Wireless data services, please visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. Business customers can contact a Verizon Wireless Business Sales Representative directly at 1-800-VZW-4-BIZ.

(EDITORS: Broadcast-quality B-roll footage about BroadbandAccess is available online. Log on to www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless to preview and request video segments, which can be received in newsrooms digitally, by tape or via satellite.)

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 40.4 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD) (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.

NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: materially adverse changes in economic conditions in the markets served by us, an adverse change in the ratings afforded our debt securities or those of Verizon Communications by nationally accredited ratings organizations, the effects of the substantial competition that exists in our markets, which has been intensifying, and which may intensify further as a result of local number portability regulations that allow wireless customers to retain their phone numbers when switching wireless service providers, our ability to obtain sufficient financing to satisfy our substantial capital requirements, including to fund capital expenditures, debt repayment and distributions to our owners, our ability to obtain sufficient spectrum licenses, particularly in our most densely populated areas, our ability to develop future business opportunities, including wireless data services, and to continue to adapt to the changing conditions in the wireless industry, our ability to receive satisfactory service from our key vendors and suppliers, our ability to generate additional subscribers, with acceptable levels of churn, from resellers and distributors of our service, material changes in available technology, and technology substitution that could impact the popularity and usage of our technology, our continued provision of satisfactory service to our subscribers at an acceptable cost, in order to reduce churn, the impact of continued unionization efforts with respect to our employees, regulatory developments, including new regulations that could increase our cost of doing business or reduce demand for our services, developments in connection with existing or future litigation, and changes in our accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on earnings.

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