Verizon Brings Fiber to Consumers and Small Business in 24 New Jersey Communities

Company's Transformational Technology to Benefit Residential and Business Customers, Boost Economic Development

NEWARK, N.J. - Verizon is bringing to 24 New Jersey communities one of the most significant advancements in telecommunications technology in the past 100 years.

The company today announced it is rolling out a fiber-optic network that will deliver faster data speeds and crystal clear voice to residence and business customers. This transformational upgrade to Verizon's network also has the capability to offer a full suite of video services. Verizon had suspended the project a year ago because of an adverse regulatory climate in New Jersey, a situation that is improving.

The 24 communities where the project is underway are: Allendale, Alpine, Closter, Demarest, Franklin Lakes, Harrington Park, Mahwah, Northvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan, Ramsey, Rockleigh, Westwood and Wyckoff in Bergen County; the city of Passaic; Ewing, Lawrence and Pennington in Mercer County; Mendham Township and Rockaway Boro in Morris County; Tinton Falls in Monmouth County and Evesham and Medford in Burlington County.

Acting Governor Richard J. Codey welcomed Verizon's fiber efforts.

"Verizon's decision to build its fiber-optic network in our state is a win for all of New Jersey," Codey said. "This investment will not only improve existing services for New Jersey's businesses and residents, it will also create new jobs and new opportunities for the state.

"It is important that New Jersey has the latest available technology infrastructure so that we stay competitively strong. We look forward to working with Verizon to expand the uses of this technology to benefit other areas within the state."

Today's announcement comes about a year after the company suspended its fiber-to-the premises (FTTP) deployment plans for New Jersey because the regulatory environment in the state did not compare favorably with the other states competing for significant new investment. But Verizon New Jersey President Dennis Bone said things are beginning to change.

"We have always said that New Jersey is a great market, and we want to offer this transformational technology here," he said.

"In the past year, there have been signs that the overall investment climate in our state has been improving," he said. "The new administration and key state leaders have shown a clear interest in improving our state's competitiveness by fostering more infrastructure investment and economic development. Their willingness to listen and their encouragement have given us the confidence to proceed with building this communications network of the future."

FTTP uses hair-thin strands of fiber and optical electronics to directly link homes and businesses to Verizon's network. The state-of-the-art network upgrade will unleash a range of advanced communication services.

Verizon's all-fiber system is capable of carrying a competitive choice to the existing cable television providers. The company will seek a franchise agreement before offering cable television service in a selected community.

Although the use of fiber optics is common for long-distance and inter-city communications throughout the telecommunications industry, Verizon is one of the first major telecom companies to begin using it to directly connect homes and businesses to the network on a widespread scale.

Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney is seeing first-hand the placement of fiber optics in his area. "I'm pleased that Bergen was one of the first places to receive Verizon's fiber optic technology," he said. "This will make it easier for our residents to enjoy the benefits of ultra-high speed Internet access and eventually the next generation of cable television services."

Today's announcement brings to14 the number of states where Verizon has begun building its FTTP network. Other states are California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia. To help build the network across the country, Verizon will hire between 3,000 and 5,000 new employees, including hundreds in New Jersey.

Fiber offers tremendous advantages to network operators, in addition to new and superior services for customers. For example, fiber offers reliable service in stretches of wet weather that can affect copper-based networks and coaxial cable systems.

"Verizon's fully fiber-optic network is technically superior to other communication platforms because it offers faster data speeds than those currently available, as well as voice and video capability," said William Foshay, Verizon market area president. "Our fiber engineering creates a network that requires less day-to-day maintenance and allows for proactive and even faster repairs."

Customer reaction to Verizon's new fiber-based Internet access service, called FiOS (FYE'-ose), has been very positive, with broadband subscribers more than doubling in the company's inaugural FiOS market of Keller, Texas, just outside Dallas/Fort Worth. Verizon will notify customers when FiOS is available locally.

"FiOS has been an extraordinary hit with our first customers. People are literally lining up to get what they know is a fantastic and even more reliable service at an excellent price," said Foshay. "The need for speed and ability to take advantage of bandwidth-intensive applications remain a top priority for all computer users."

There are three tiers of Verizon FiOS Internet Service for consumers, with downstream (download) speeds of up to 5, 15 and 30 Mbps (megabits per second).*

• Up to 5 Mbps (megabits per second) downstream and 2 Mbps upstream. Suited for Internet surfing and basic computer functions. $34.95 a month as part of a calling package, or $39.95 a month stand-alone.

• Up to 15 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream. Appealing to families that have multiple computers and various needs such as media downloads and the ability to access or share large files. $44.95 a month as part of a calling package, or $49.95 a month stand-alone.

• Up to 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream. Designed for communications-intensive power users with significant bandwidth needs, such as telecommuters or work-at-home households and avid online gamers. $179.95 a month as part of a calling package, or $199.95 a month stand-alone.

The FTTP initiative represents a natural extension of the more than 10 million miles of fiber-optic cable Verizon already has in place and extends the high capacity, speed and quality of fiber directly to the customer's doorstep. With FTTP technology, Verizon can easily add more capacity, higher speeds or future video services.

Verizon's digital subscriber line (DSL) service will remain the company's most widely available form of high-speed Internet access for the foreseeable future while the company ramps up FTTP deployment. The company offers DSL on a widespread basis in New Jersey.

With more than $71 billion in annual revenues, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon has a diverse work force of more than 210,000 in four business units: Domestic Telecom serves customers based in 29 states with wireline telecommunications services, including broadband, nationwide long-distance and other services. Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 43.8 million voice and data customers across the United States. Information Services operates directory publishing businesses and provides electronic commerce services. International includes wireline and wireless operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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*NOTE: Actual (throughput) speeds will vary.