Verizon Receives Frost & Sullivan Product Line Strategy Award

NEW YORK - Verizon has been awarded the 2005 Frost & Sullivan Product Line Strategy Award for its support of the U.S. small-business telecommunication services market. Meeting all of Frost & Sullivan's stringent criteria, Verizon was identified as the leading carrier, optimizing its product portfolio and demonstrating a thorough understanding of the various business types it serves.

"Verizon's vertical focus on specific industries such as education, finance and health care enables the company to better understand its customers' needs and hence provide solutions that match these needs, "said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Imran Khan. "Verizon offers one of the most robust portfolios of products and services to small businesses."

Frost & Sullivan also noted that Verizon has indicated by the deployment of a wide variety of products, bundle options and service delivery channels tailored to the small-business market that the company is committed to developing and deploying new services for this segment.

Monte Beck, vice president of business marketing at Verizon, said, "We're gratified that our dedicated focus on serving small businesses has been recognized. We are committed to providing our small- and medium-sized customers products that will enhance their businesses, increase their productivity and help them better compete in the marketplace.

"Small-business owners face daily challenges in operating their businesses, and by knowing their industry, we can offer and promote telecommunications tools that make their tasks easier. We support their business goals and view ourselves as partners in facilitating their success," Beck said.

Chris Pizzirani, vice president of broadband marketing at Verizon, added, "This prestigious award from Frost & Sullivan further supports our strategy of delivering robust broadband product solutions for our small-business customers. We consistently interact with them in order to design products that they can use to improve the way they run their businesses."

Verizon excelled in Frost & Sullivan's criteria used to determine the winner in this competitive industry ranking. The criteria include:

• Introduction of new products, strategically positioned to balance the product line.

• Ability to accommodate different market segments, or different markets within an industry, by re-purposing technology.

• Enhancement of product offerings through optimization of packaging, service, delivery, financing and/or other value-added services.

• Strategic technology or marketing acquisitions or alliances.

Cited for offering "one of the most robust service portfolios in the small-business telecom services markets," Verizon offers an array of business products and services to small- and medium-sized businesses:

• Verizon Freedom for Business, which is unlimited wireline local and domestic long-distance calling.

• Verizon's next-generation broadband via FiOS, which provides connection through Verizon's fiber-optic network of speeds up to 30 Mbps (megabits per second). And Verizon's traditional broadband access, Verizon Business DSL, which offers a variety of packages with different maximum connection speeds and features tailored specifically for the needs of each business owner.

• Iobi Professional, a communications productivity application that enables small businesses to utilize a Web-based interface to manage their calls, including call forwarding, voice messaging, e-mails, conferencing and more. This tool allows small- business owners the freedom to be on the go anytime and never miss a call. In addition, iobi Professional also offers Web-based calendaring and address integration tools to small-business customers.

• Verizon Secure Mail, an easy-to-use e-mail encryption product that digitally signs and helps to protects original documents from tampering so the recipient can be assured the e-mail is legitimate. Using this product, small-business subscribers can increase the security of their unlimited e-mail communications.

• Mobile services ranging from voice to wireless Internet access. VZAccess, VZVoice and VZEmail are some of the company's wireless services targeted toward mobile professionals. VZAccess provides Internet connectivity across a suite of wireless devices such as laptops and other handheld computing and communications devices (such as PDAs and e-mail devices).

• Other services such as wireless LANs, e-mail, security, Web hosting, domain names and additional online tools.

The Frost & Sullivan Market Award for Product Line Strategy is presented each year to a company that has demonstrated the most insight into customer needs and product demands. The recipient company should have optimized its product line by leveraging products with the various price, performance and feature points required by the market.

To learn more about Frost & Sullivan Awards, visit www.awards.frost.com.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 53 million customers nationwide. Verizon Business operates one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks. Verizon Telecom is deploying the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers. Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 250,000 and generates annual consolidated operating revenues of approximately $90 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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