Verizon Earns State Commendations for 'Excellent' Service in Two Areas of New York

NEW YORK -- Building on a sweeping and successful service improvement program over the last six years, Verizon today earned commendations from the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) for providing "excellent" local phone service in two areas of the state during 2001.

Verizon operations teams serving midtown Manhattan and the Syracuse/central New York upstate region today received commendations from the PSC. The PSC annually recognizes local telephone companies throughout the state when they exceed tough service standards for customer repair reports and customer complaints to the PSC.

"We strive to provide outstanding service to each of our customers," said Eileen O'Neill Odum, president-National Operations for Verizon. "This commendation from the PSC recognizes all the men and women of Verizon who work day and night, often under difficult circumstances, to make sure our customers -- whether in the business-intensive avenues and streets of midtown Manhattan or in Syracuse and the surrounding central New York region -- get the best service possible.

"Verizon has invested well over $10 billion in our statewide network over the last six years. At the same time, customer complaints to the PSC have dropped by more than 50 percent and customer-requested repairs are down by more than 30 percent," Odum added.

Last year alone, Verizon invested over $2 billion to continue expanding and modernizing the massive network that serves New Yorkers. The company's network throughout the state now has more than one million miles of fiber optics and all of the company's call-switching centers from Buffalo to Long Island use advanced digital technology.

"Today, New Yorkers are served by one of the most advanced telecommunications networks in the world -- Verizon's network," Odum said.

To earn a PSC commendation, a local phone company or a geographical division of a company must meet two standards related to the number of repair-requests per 100 phone lines and the rate of customer complaints to the PSC.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 132.1 million access line equivalents and 29.4 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with more than $67 billion in annual revenues and approximately 247,000 employees, Verizon's global presence extends to more than 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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