Verizon SuperPages Teams with Tri-City Water Follies on New 2001 SuperPages Directory Cover

TRI-CITIES, WA -- Verizon SuperPages^(tm)makes a splash with The Tri-City Water Follies as a sponsor of the 2001 event and celebrates the partnership by featuring a colorful photograph of a fast-moving hydroplane from last year's Budweiser Columbia Cup race on its new Verizon Information Services SuperPages directory for the Tri-Cities area and surrounding vicinity.

The December 2001 SuperPages phonebook, currently being distributed to homes in the local area, marks the first time in Tri-Cities history that the cover has been customized to highlight a special event in the Tri-Cities area.

"Our sponsorship of the Tri-City Water Follies is part of Verizon's ongoing commitment to support the local community," stated Steve Olesen, Verizon's group marketing manager. "We felt there was no better way to heighten interest in the Tri-Cities' biggest event than to spotlight it on the cover of the 95,000 SuperPages directories that are delivered to homes and businesses throughout the area."

Emily Janikowski, event director of Tri-City Water Follies, agreed saying, "Being on the cover of SuperPages is great exposure for the event. Every resident in the local community will get a sneak preview of the excitement that will be happening this summer." In addition to the cover exposure, Verizon SuperPages has been on board as the official sponsor of the 2001 Heat 2A.

Now in its 37th year, TheTri-City Water Follies Budweiser Columbia Cup for Unlimited Hydroplanes and Robert Young Apartments & Suites Over-the-River Aerial Demonstrations is set for July 26-28. The event attracts about 50,000 boating fans that line both shores of the Columbia River. Come see the world's fastest race boats, jet performances, and enjoy shoreline activities at Eastern Washington's biggest weekend festival from both sides of the Columbia River. For more information call the Tri-City Water Follies at (509) 547-2203.

The new Tri-Cities SuperPages directory is currently being distributed to communities throughout the local area. They include Richland, West Richland, Pasco, Kennewick, Benton City and Plymouth. Local residents who do not receive their phonebook by December 22 may call (800) 888-8448 to have one delivered.

About Verizon Information Services and SuperPages.com

Verizon Information Services is the world's leading print and online directory publisher and a content provider for communications products and services. The largest directory publisher in the world, Verizon has annual revenues of more than $4.1 billion and publishes nearly 1,200 U.S. Verizon SuperPages directories and 400 international directories with a total circulation of approximately 142 million copies worldwide.

Verizon Information Services also produces and markets SuperPages.com, the Internet's #1 online directory and shopping resource. SuperPages.com receives as many as 12 million visits and 9 million unique visitors a month. SuperPages.com also powers directory services on MSN, InfoSpace, AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, HotBot, BigFoot, Tripod and Angelfire.

Through its signature Verizon Reads program and the Verizon Literacy Network, Verizon is committed to leading the fight to increase U.S. literacy levels by creating community and corporate awareness, raising funds, encouraging collaboration among literacy providers and engaging employees in supporting literacy programs. Verizon Information Services supports community outreach programs across the nation designed to increase the literacy rate of children and adults, and to help people of all ages become computer literate.

For more information on Verizon Information Services, visit www.verizonyellowpages.com. For more information on Verizon's literacy programs, visit www.SuperPages.com and click on the Verizon Reads icon. Based in the Dallas area, Verizon Information Services is a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), one of the world's leading providers of communications services.

# # #