Verizon Wireless Expands Wireless Broadband Network to Berkshire County

Verizon Wireless Expands Wireless Broadband Network to Berkshire County

High-Speed Network Enhancements Give More Massachusetts Customers Access to Fast Wireless Internet, E-mail, Mobile Music, and Videos

WILMINGTON, Mass., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless today announced the expansion of wireless broadband service to several communities across Berkshire County. Now more Verizon Wireless customers in Western Massachusetts can access e-mail and the Internet on their laptops and PDAs, and download video and music to their wireless phones.

Verizon Wireless' high-speed wireless data network is now available within the communities of Adams, Becket, Great Barrington, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, New Ashford, North Adams, Otis, Pittsfield, Sheffield, South Williamstown, Stockbridge, and Williamstown.

"Our product lineup is stocked with best-in-class multimedia phones, all running on the nation's most reliable wireless network," said Ken Dixon, president of Verizon Wireless' New England region. "This latest network investment provides more Berkshire County residents and visitors the ability to surf our high-speed wireless network, send and receive e-mail and take their desktop experience with them on-the-go."

Verizon Wireless' high-speed wireless service, which powers its BroadbandAccess Internet and V CAST multimedia applications, is based on the company's Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A network technology.

BroadbandAccess

The company's flagship data service, BroadbandAccess, provides average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps, which means customers can download a 1 Megabyte e-mail attachment -- the equivalent of a small PowerPoint(R) presentation or a large PDF file -- in about eight seconds and upload the same-sized file in less than 13 seconds. Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess service allows customers to download files approximately 10 times faster than customers of other wireless service providers that use different broadly deployed network technologies.

V CAST: Video and Music

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 straight to their V CAST-capable handsets. With content updated daily, customers can watch dozens of on demand videos, including breaking news, weather, sports highlights, and the hottest entertainment clips.

With V CAST Music, Verizon Wireless has built a massive full-song mobile music store that contains more than 2.5 million songs from well-known and independent artists that customers can download over-the-air, right onto their V CAST Music-enabled phones.

Since 2000 Verizon Wireless has invested more than $2 billion throughout the six states of New England to enhance wireless capacity and coverage. Nationally the company invests more than $1 billion every 90 days to stay ahead of the growing demand for Verizon Wireless voice and data services. The company's ongoing network investment now totals more than $40 billion nationally since it was formed.

For more information about 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 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees nationwide. The company 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.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Verizon Wireless

CONTACT: Michael Murphy of Verizon Wireless, +1-781-932-1213,
Michael.Murphy@verizonwireless.com; Marcia Simon for Verizon Wireless,
+1-860-395-7244, marcia@mseusa.com

Web site:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/

-------
Profile: intent