Verizon Investment in New York Communications Network Tops $2 Billion Again This Year

NEW YORK -- Verizon invested more than $2 billion in its New York telecommunications infrastructure during 2001, ensuring that the state's residents and businesses continue to benefit from the best communications systems in the world.

With capital expenditures for 2001 topping $2 billion, the company's yearly investments in New York since 1995 now total more than $12 billion. The yearly investments are targeted at expanding, enhancing and maintaining the vast network of wires, cables, switching centers and customer support systems throughout the state. Verizon has $24 billion invested in telecommunications equipment and facilities in the state.

"This level of investment demonstrates that Verizon is committed to delivering state-of-the-art telecommunications services throughout the state,'' said Paul Crotty, Verizon group president for New York and Connecticut. "We are expanding capacity and upgrading our network to accommodate the growing demand for high-speed data and Internet connections over the Verizon network, in addition to bringing innovative advanced services to our customers."

Service Improvement

In 2001, Verizon added more than 40,000 miles of fiber-optic cable in New York, bringing the state's overall fiber-optic network to more than 1.15 million miles -- or enough to circle the Earth more than 46 times. Corporatewide, the company now has more than 8.3 million miles of fiber --more than any other telecommunications company in the U.S. Fiber-optic systems provide greater capacity, more diversity of routing, higher transmission speeds and better quality for voice, video and data transmitted over the network.

Verizon operates 585 digital call-switching centers, which are the central nervous system of the network responsible for routing calls and providing enhanced services. Verizon's network serves nearly 10 million retail phone lines and an additional 2.4 million lines leased by other telecommunications companies.

Verizon Online expanded the availability of its DSL (digital subscriber line) high-speed Internet access service to more than seven million of its access lines throughout the state. The company also introduced new networking options that allow sharing of one DSL connection among multiple computers in a home or office. With more than one million DSL access lines in service, Verizon is among the nation's leading providers of business and residential high-speed Internet access.

Through the third quarter of the year, Verizon added almost one million long-distance customers in the state, bringing the total to 2.1 million. In December 1999, Verizon was the first regional telecommunications company to win approval to offer long-distance service in its home territory, enabling the company to offer both local and long-distance services to its New York customers.

The independent consumer group TRAC (Telecommunications Research and Action Center) estimated that New Yorkers are saving up to $700 million annually in local and long-distance charges since Verizon began offering long distance.

Demonstrating the company's commitment to the communities it serves, Verizon Foundation gave more than $16.5 million in grants during the year to non-profit organizations in the state.

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 128.5 million access line equivalents and 28.7 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with 256,000 employees and approximately $65 billion in annual revenues, 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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