76,000 Square Miles Of 3G Network For Northern Californians On-The-Go

SANTA BARBARA, CA — Verizon Wireless has widened its 3G "fast lane" along California's Central Coast. The company's high-speed wireless broadband network now delivers mile after mile of high-speed performance for customers surfing the Internet, e-mailing large files and downloading songs or videos over-the-air using 3G-capable phones and PC cards.

The expansion covers a wide area:

• Paso Robles, San Miguel, Lake Nacimiento, and Atascadero
• San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Los Osos, Cal Poly, Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano, and Arroyo Grande
• Santa Maria, Nipomo, Orcutt, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Buellton, Solvang, and Santa Ynez
• Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, UCSB, Goleta, Montecito, and Carpinteria

BroadbandAccess: The wireless data solution
BroadbandAccess offers computer users the nation's most reliable high-speed wireless mobile broadband network, operating at average upload speeds between 500 and 800 kilobits per second, and download speeds between 600 kbps and 1.4 megabits per second over Verizon Wireless' Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A (Rev. A) network. This means customers with Rev. A-compatible devices can 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. Today, the company's nationwide wireless broadband network has been enhanced to Rev. A technology.

V CAST: Video, Music, 3D games
The company's high-speed network also enables its V CAST multimedia services, offering customers the ability to download full-song tracks, play cutting-edge 3D games and stream video clips on breaking news, sports and entertainment straight to their phones. Content is updated daily.

"California's Central Coast represents a vital market with dynamic, tech-savvy business people, residents and students who want to stay connected," said Rich Garwood, regional president of Verizon Wireless. "BroadbandAccess lets our business customers experience a truly untethered mobile office experience with remote access to corporate data on their laptops and e-mail on their PDAs. With V CAST, consumers can enjoy a comprehensive selection of downloadable music, high-quality videos and exciting 3D games."

The recent expansion adds to Verizon Wireless' $4.6 billion investment in California since 2000. Nationwide the company has invested more than $45 billion since it was formed — $5.5 billion on average every year — to increase the coverage and capacity of its national wireless network and to add services like BroadbandAccess, V CAST, VZ NavigatorSM, and many more. V CAST brings video clips of TV shows, music on demand and other multimedia services to wireless phones.

Verizon Wireless' 3G network coverage in Northern California includes the following counties: Alameda, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba.

Verizon Wireless' reputation as the nation's most reliable wireless network is supported by industry-leading redundancy and maintenance measures. This has proven particularly valuable during natural disasters and other emergencies across the country. Standard Verizon Wireless network-reliability features include battery back-up power at all facilities as well as generators installed at all switching facilities and many cell site locations.

Other examples of company leadership include being first to offer nationwide plans with unlimited calling and the only provider to offer a 30-day network Test Drive pledge that pays for calls if a customer isn't satisfied and switches to another carrier.

For more information about the company's network coverage, Test Drive from Verizon Wireless or any Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 67.2 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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