Verizon Wireless Opens Doors In Mountain Home, Arkansas

MOUNTAIN HOME, AR — To better serve the growing number of customers in Mountain Home, Ark., Verizon Wireless, the leading wireless company with the most reliable voice and data network, including the nation's largest wireless 3G broadband network, will celebrate the opening of a new communications store with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, Oct.1 at 10:30 a.m.

Located at 1150 Hometown Commons, next to Lowe's, the new store offers consumers hands-on interaction with the latest wireless products, including Netbooks, the MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot and the BlackBerry® Tour™ with personalized service in a comfortable setting from knowledgeable wireless professionals. Customers will also be able to take advantage of special promotions including free phones and significant discounts on accessories during the grand-opening celebration.

"Mountain Home is a growing market for Verizon Wireless," says Brian Kimes, regional manager for Verizon Wireless. "With the added convenience our the new communications store provides, our customers in the Ozarks will have better access to the best technology and highly trained professionals that make Verizon Wireless' network the largest and most reliable."

New stores are only a part of the company's efforts to add convenience for customers in Baxter County. Verizon Wireless is also continually working to increase network capacity and coverage and enhance the overall wireless experience throughout the country. Verizon Wireless has invested more than $50 billion since it was formed -- $5.5 billion on average every year -- to increase the coverage and capacity of its premier nationwide network and to add new services. Already this year, Verizon Wireless has invested more than $26 million in Arkansas to advance and expand its network capabilities.

Former Alltel customers in Mountain Home already have been added to the Verizon Wireless Mobile-to-Mobile Calling family, and may now call any of the more than 87 million customers without using their plan minutes. Customers also have access to high-value services such as Friends and Family® (formerly My Circle) allowing them to call any five or 10 numbers on any network for free.

Verizon Wireless is also encouraging all customers joining them in this weekend's celebration to donate their old wireless phones, batteries and accessories in any condition from any service provider to support HopeLine®, Verizon Wireless' domestic violence prevention program.

Phones donated to HopeLine that can be refurbished are sold for reuse, and those that are not salvageable are recycled in an environmentally sound way under a zero landfill policy. Proceeds generated from the phones collected by HopeLine are put toward wireless phones and service for survivors of domestic violence as well as financial grants to local non-profit domestic violence advocacy agencies.

Since HopeLine's national phone recycling and re-use program was launched in 2001, Verizon Wireless has collected more than 6 million phones and awarded more than $6.3 million in cash grants to domestic violence agencies and organizations throughout the country.

The Mountain Home store hours are Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information about Verizon Wireless' products and services please visit www.verizonwireless.com.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving 87.7 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 87,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit 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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