Independent Research Firm Cites Verizon as a Leader Among Consumer Internet Service Providers

NEW YORK - Verizon has been recognized as a leader in The Forrester Wave ^tm Consumer ISPs, Q4 2005 evaluation of top Internet service providers based on the company's scores for current service offering, market presence and strategy.

Independent research firm Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of top consumer ISPs, using a scoring scale of 0 (weak) to 5 (strong). Verizon achieved a top score of 5 for its cost of service, its portal and its e-mail storage; and a score of 4 or above in breadth of product offering, speed of connection, e-mail functionality, number of e-mail accounts, customer support, security product offering, product strategy, corporate strategy and key technology partners. ¹ The ISPs also were placed in four "waves": leaders, strong performers, contenders and risky bets, with Verizon cited as a leader.

Comments about Verizon from the report include: ¹

"Verizon offers a range of bandwidth speeds and prices that provides consumers many choices. They couple these access products with Yahoo!'s customizable portal, IM and e-mail services to provide a best all-around value."

"Verizon's current and pending partnerships will serve to enrich its variety of service offerings with content."

"As Verizon's fiber broadband service (FiOS) rolls out to 6 million homes by the end of 2006, it will be able to offer its customers speeds up to 30 Mbps as well as new premium content services like TV, games and on-demand information."

Robert Ingalls, president of Verizon's Retail Markets Group, said, "Results of The Forrester Wave report affirm that Verizon is creating a best all-around value in broadband today. We offer a speed for every need, a price for every budget, along with unsurpassed content and applications for today's digital household. We put customers first with excellent service and a continuously growing portfolio of broadband services delivered over reliable, advanced networks. We're very proud to be named a leader in this prestigious report."

Verizon offers two high-speed DSL Internet service plans to qualifying consumers - one with a maximum connection speed of up to 768 Kbps (kilobits per second) downstream and 128 Kbps upstream for $14.95 in an annual service plan and one with a maximum connection speed of up to 3 Mbps (megabits per second) downstream and 768 Kbps upstream for $29.95 a month in an annual service plan.

The company offers three FiOS fiber-optics-based Internet service plans to qualifying consumers, with maximum downstream/upstream connection speeds of 5 Mbps/2 Mbps, 15 Mbps/2 Mbps and 30 Mbps/5 Mbps for annual service plan prices of $34.95, $44.95 and $179.95 per month, respectively.

Customers wanting information about Verizon's DSL and FiOS services should visit www.verizon.com.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other communication innovations to wireline and wireless customers. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 49.3 million customers nationwide; one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks; and one of the nation's premier wireline networks, serving home, business and wholesale customers. Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of approximately 250,000 and generates annual consolidated operating revenues of approximately $90 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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¹ Consumer ISPs Scorecard Summary: Verizon, Forrester Research, Inc., December 2005