Verizon Wireless Showcases New "Evolutionary" Store Design At Eastview Mall Store Grand Opening In Rochester, New York

ROCHESTER, NY — Verizon Wireless has broken new ground in wireless retail with the grand opening of its newest Communications Store in Eastview Mall this weekend. The new 1,300-square-foot store is the next evolution of the wireless experience, offering consumers hands-on interaction with wireless voice, data, music, and video services in a sleek, new full-service environment. The Eastview Mall store and the store in nearby Cobblestone Court are two of only five Verizon Wireless stores in New York State and 100 nationwide that reflect the new design.

"The new store design focuses on giving our customers a hands-on experience with our products and services," said Mark Andrews, director of Communication Stores for Verizon Wireless' Upstate New York region. "Making it easy for customers to learn about and choose wireless capabilities is one more way we're working to ensure Verizon Wireless continues to lead the industry in customer loyalty."

About the store
The new Eastview Mall store features:

• A dedicated demo space where customers can explore the latest technology using interactive touch-screens or be guided by product-savvy sales staff.
• More than 55 working models of handsets, PDAs, PC cards, and other devices for customers to try.
• A greeter kiosk that allows customers to check in and note the reason for their visit so representatives can quickly assist them.
• A bill payment kiosk that allows customers to make account payments and purchase prepaid minutes quickly and easily using cash, checks or credit/debit cards.
• Customer service and technical support to make it easy for customers to get the help they need from trained in-store staff.

About the donation
As part of the store's grand opening celebration, Verizon Wireless will donate 20 wireless phones to Alternatives for Battered Women to benefit local domestic violence survivors. The phones, part of Verizon Wireless' HopeLine® program, will serve as a lifeline to call for help in an emergency or life-threatening situation. The phones can also be used to help survivors find housing, employment, arrange for child care, etc.

Marking its 13th year in 2008, the HopeLine program distributes wireless phones to victims of domestic violence, supports non-profit domestic violence advocacy groups, and provides an environmentally safe method for recycling phones. No-longer-used phones are collected and either recycled or sold for parts, with wireless phones and/or monetary donations benefiting domestic violence agencies and victims. Since the HopeLine phone recycling efforts began in 2001, consumers have donated more than 4.5 million phones to HopeLine, more than 1 million phones have been recycled, and more than $5 million in cash grants has been awarded.

Verizon Wireless has invested nearly $44 billion — more than $5.5 billion on average every year — to increase network coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new services, including wireless data services such as picture messaging, text messaging, and the company's exclusive V CAST service. V CAST brings TV and other multimedia services to wireless phones over Verizon Wireless' high-speed BroadbandAccess wireless network. Operating at average download speeds between 600 kilobits per second (kbps) up to 1.4 megabits per second, and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps, BroadbandAccess lets customers download a 1 Megabyte e-mail attachment — the equivalent of a small PowerPoint® presentation or a large PDF file — in about eight seconds and upload the same-sized file in less than 13 seconds, significantly faster than customers of other wireless service providers that use different broadly deployed network technologies.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 65.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 69,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, go to: 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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