Ringback Buddies Lets Verizon Wireless Customers Buy, Recommend And Rate Tones On Facebook Platform

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and SAN FRANCISCO — Giving customers even more access to and control over their music, Verizon Wireless said today on the eve of CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2008, it has launched Ringback Buddies. Ringback Buddies, available as an application on Facebook® Platform, allows customers to browse, purchase and manage their ringback tones and jukeboxes while on the site.

With ringback tones, people who call your wireless phone hear music instead of a traditional ring. Ringback Buddies allows users to easily view the music their friends like or want, purchase those ringback tones, then assign them to their friends, so they hear the music they like when they call you.

“Being part of a social Web experience is an increasingly popular way to exchange information about music in all its forms, including mobile music,” said Jennifer Byrne, director of digital media at Verizon. “With Ringback Buddies, Verizon Wireless is making music accessible on a popular Web site, and making it easy to talk about and share the latest music in the form of ringback tones with friends and family.”

Using Ringback Buddies, customers also will see “top 10” lists of tones and jukeboxes available to sample or to buy. The application allows users to make recommendations to their friends and see their wish lists. Music lovers can also rate the most popular or undiscovered ringback tones or invite their friends to add Ringback Buddies to their profiles.

When logged on to Facebook, users can search the word “ringback” to find and install the application. When on Verizon’s Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/verizon), users click on the “music” tab under Featured Applications to access Ringback Buddies.

Ringback Buddies is delivered using the envIOWorks platform from Andover, Mass.-based envIO networks. It is available as a free application on Facebook Platform, which enables companies and developers to integrate with the Facebook Web site and gain access to its more than 100 million active users. Individual ringback tones are available from Verizon Wireless for an annual fee of $1.99, and prices vary for pre-made jukeboxes or groups of ringback tones. Regardless of the number of ringback tones purchased, a 99-cent monthly subscription applies to customers using ringback tones.

For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, including mobile music, 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 68.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 70,000 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.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

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