Verizon Wireless Extends Wireless Broadband Network to Springfield And Northampton Areas of Western Massachusetts

WOBURN, MA — Continuing to build on its strategy to provide superior voice and data networks to businesses and mobile professionals in the United States, Verizon Wireless today announced the expansion of wide-area wireless broadband services to the Springfield, Northampton and Amherst areas through its BroadbandAccess and V CAST offerings.

The high-speed wireless broadband network expansion, based on the company's Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) network technology, creates coverage along Interstate-91 traveling from the Connecticut border to the college towns in and surrounding Amherst and up to Hatfield.

Verizon Wireless was the first national wireless provider to commercially launch a high-speed wireless broadband network in the United States. BroadbandAccess delivers average download speeds of 400 to 700 kilobits per second. The service features the ability to connect to the Internet using a PC card that slides directly into most laptop computers and enables a download of a 1 Megabyte e-mail attachment (the equivalent of a small PowerPoint^® presentation or a large PDF file) in about 20 seconds.

The company is expanding BroadbandAccess coverage to the communities of Springfield, West Springfield, Amherst, Hatfield, Northampton, Hadley, Holyoke, Chicopee, Ludlow, Palmer, Wilbraham, Longmeadow and Agawam. The new footprint includes:

• Interstate-91 from Connecticut border to Hatfield
• Interstate-90 from Palmer to West Springfield
• Route 20 from Agawam to Palmer
• Routes 291 and 391
• Route 116 from Holyoke to North Amherst
• Route 9 from Northampton to Amherst

"This expansion is part of our continuing focus on investing in our network reliability and providing innovative high-speed data services to our customers across the country and now in Springfield and nearby communities," said Bob Stott, New England Region president for Verizon Wireless. "With BroadbandAccess, mobile professionals and students are now able to take their desktop experience wherever they go in the coverage area, allowing them to wirelessly access their Outlook^® calendars, the Internet, e-mail and other critical information."

As an example of the productivity benefits the company's wireless broadband provides to mobile and business professionals, construction supervisors can capture important details about building projects and wirelessly transmit the information to the contractor; food and beverage company representatives can re-order stock wirelessly while at the point of sale; and physicians can write prescriptions, enter orders and manage other tasks via PDAs or laptops.

The company's high-speed network also enables its V CAST multimedia service, which offers consumers the ability to download full song tracks right to Verizon Wireless phones. The V CAST Music on-demand service includes access to a catalog of more than 1.4 million songs and offers video content on demand, including current news, weather, sports and entertainment programming. V CAST also allows customers to download and play cutting-edge 3D games for an additional charge. To access V CAST video content and games, customers need a V CAST-enabled phone and either a $15.00 monthly subscription, or a $3.00 daily subscription, added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan.

For a limited time, Verizon Wireless customers with a new or existing voice plan can receive unlimited BroadbandAccess service for Internet browsing, e-mail and intranet access for $59.99 monthly access. A new two-year customer agreement is required. For non-voice customers, BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access with a new one- or two-year customer agreement. The company's BroadbandAccess service is also available as an integrated option on select notebook computers: Dell (Latitude 620 and 820), Lenovo (ThinkPad Z60, T60 and X60) and HP (Compaq nc6140).

Verizon Wireless has invested $30 billion into its network in the last six years — $5 billion on average every year since 2000 when the company was formed — to ensure network reliability and increase coverage and capacity.

Customers can learn more about the benefits of BroadbandAccess by visiting www.verizonwireless.com or a number of local Verizon Wireless retail locations, including:

• 1420 Boston Road, Springfield
• 1123-B Riverdale Street, West Springfield
• Holyoke Mall, Holyoke
• Circuit City, 510 Parker Street, Springfield
• Circuit City, 33 Holyoke Street, Holyoke
• BJ's Wholesale Club, 650 Memorial Drive, Chicopee

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 56.7 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, 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 preview and request 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.

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