Beaumont, Texas' First Wireless Broadband Network Arrives Today

BEAUMONT, TX — Verizon Wireless today announced the arrival of the first wireless broadband network in Beaumont, delivering two award-winning services, V CAST and BroadbandAccess, to local consumers and business customers.

V CAST, the nation's first wireless broadband multimedia service for consumers and BroadbandAccess, the fastest wide-area wireless Internet access service available in the nation, are both available today in Beaumont. Both services run on the company's high-speed EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) wireless broadband network.

"The launch of our high-speed wireless broadband network in Beaumont provides Verizon Wireless customers with the latest and greatest in mobile wireless technology," said Katherine Greene, region president, Verizon Wireless.

"With V CAST, consumers can access the latest in multimedia programming to stay connected, informed and entertained via their wireless phones, and BroadbandAccess provides mobile workers full access to their corporate information, just as if they were attached via a high-speed wired connection, but with the freedom of true mobility."

New EV-DO Coverage Connects Beaumont

In Beaumont, Verizon Wireless' EV-DO coverage area includes central Beaumont and extends from Rosedale to Gladys and from east of Meeker to west of Doty.

Verizon Wireless first introduced BroadbandAccess to the Houston area with the launch of EV-DO in January 2005, with V CAST launching in February 2005.

Verizon Wireless has invested more than $4 billion annually on the build-out and enhancement of its networks since the company's inception in 2000, and last year alone it invested $5 billion, including build-out of the wireless broadband EV-DO network.

V CAST

Verizon Wireless' V CAST service enables Beaumont consumers to access short video content on-demand, viewing current news, weather, sports and entertainment programming. With V CAST, customers can also download and play cutting-edge 3D games, watch music videos and concert performances from favorite artists, view short programs specifically designed for mobile phones and other video content right on their phones. For a list of all videos and 3D game entertainment available on V CAST, visit www.getvcast.com.

For $15.00 monthly access added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan, customers in Beaumont can get the V CAST VPak which includes unlimited access to a wide array of more than 300 daily updated video clips from leading news, sports, weather and entertainment content providers. Unlimited basic short content is included, but application download fees apply for 3D games, premium video short content, and all other Get It Now® applications. There are no airtime charges to download, stream or watch V CAST content. Customers can also download, stream or watch premium short video content, available at additional cost, which includes video such as music videos, select sports clips and mobisodes. Verizon Wireless V CAST customers also receive monthly access and unlimited browsing on Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web 2.0^SM news and information service. For a limited time, customers who sign up for V CAST receive one month of service free.

BroadbandAccess

The company's highly-touted BroadbandAccess service, available to mobile professionals and enterprise customers, allows customers in Beaumont to connect wirelessly to Internet via their laptop at broadband speeds, a convenient way to conduct business. Faster than any competing widely available wide-area wireless data service, BroadbandAccess customers can 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. Because EV-DO technology is backward compatible — a distinct advantage to using CDMA technology — customers who travel outside a BroadbandAccess coverage area with an EV-DO device will seamlessly switch to Verizon Wireless' existing NationalAccess service, which runs on the company's 1xRTT network.

Working with virtual private network (VPN) connections, business customers can use BroadbandAccess as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet, allowing them to work from any location within the BroadbandAccess coverage area, as if they were in the office. BroadbandAccess, with typical user download speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second (kbps), is ideal for downloading files and business-critical information residing behind corporate firewalls and for accessing e-mail, intranets and the Internet. BroadbandAccess' EV-DO technology has its own data protection and authentication and is designed to work with a business' existing IT infrastructure and security solutions.

BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access for unlimited use with a one- or two-year customer agreement. For more information on BroadbandAccess from Verizon Wireless, visit www.verizonwireless.com/broadbandaccess.

V CAST Phones and BroadbandAccess PC Cards

Customers can access V CAST on three hot, new phones. The featured phone is the new LG VX8000 phone — with its full-motion short content with audio streaming and downloading and playback capabilities, the LG VX8000 offers customers a rich and rewarding interactive experience. The LG VX8000 is available for $149.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement. V CAST customers can also check out the latest in news, entertainment and sports on the Samsung a890, which is $149.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement, and the CDM8940 from UTStarcom Personal Communications (formerly Audiovox Communications Corp.) for $179.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement.

Verizon Wireless offers several PC Cards for BroadbandAccess customers, including the Kyocera KPC-650 and Novatel V620 cards. For a limited time, Verizon Wireless customers with unlimited use data plans can buy the BroadbandAccess Novatel V620 card for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement or $99.99 with a one-year customer agreement after $100 mail-in rebate.

For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

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

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 45.5 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, N.J., 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 and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

####