'Houston, We Have a Fiber Solution'

HOUSTON - Starting this Friday (May 25), hundreds of Verizon wireline customers in League City can order Verizon FiOS (FYE'-ose) Internet and voice services, which are delivered over an all-digital, fiber-optic network directly into homes and small businesses.

Over the next several months, several thousand area residents in Verizon-served parts of nine other cities -- Bacliff, Baytown, Dickinson, Friendswood, Hitchcock, Kemah, La Marque, Mont Belvieu and Texas City -- will also begin reaping the benefits of the most significant advancement in telecommunications technology in the past 100 years.

"With FiOS, you get network reliability, pin-sharp voice clarity and the region's highest downstream and upstream Internet access speeds, all backed by an experienced team of employees who ensure your fiber experience is better than anything ever offered by a communications provider," said Trinidad Aguirre, Verizon senior vice president and general manager for customer operations and service quality in Texas.

By the end of this year, Verizon will offer its FiOS voice and Internet service to residential customers who live in new subdivisions and apartment complexes in parts of ten Houston-area cities where Verizon provides local telephone service.  This marks the first FiOS offer in Texas outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and Verizon will continue to expand FiOS services to more areas outside of Houston as it continues to deploy additional fiber in the region.

"Customer response to FiOS in North Texas has been phenomenal and a strong indicator that people are frustrated with their cable service," said Aguirre.  "We anticipate a similar response in the Houston area. FiOS is going to take off like a rocket."

In North Texas, where the company first offered FiOS in late 2004, nearly 400,000 households and apartments can order the fiber-based Internet and voice services.  At the end of the first quarter, 34 percent of all Verizon wireline customers in 30 North Texas cities were using FiOS Internet service, representing a major shift in the competitive battle between Verizon and incumbent cable providers.  Verizon is currently constructing its fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which extends all the way into residences in more than half the states where the company offers wireline communications services.  This multistate effort is a core element of Verizon's strategy to transform itself into a leading broadband and entertainment provider.

"Based on what we've seen and heard from FiOS fans who love our service, my advice to Houston-area consumers who live in, or move to, areas where FiOS is offered is: 'Don't commit to any long-term cable package, regardless of how enticing the up-front promotional cost sounds, until you have the opportunity to learn how an all-fiber network provides greater value,'" said Aguirre.

Texas Consumers Get a Broadband Power Boost With FiOS

In Texas, Verizon offers several tiers of service with downstream (download) connection speeds of up to 5, 15 and 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upstream (upload) connection speeds of up to 5 Mbps.*

Residential customers who want to determine whether they can order FiOS Internet Service can call 1-877-GO-4-FIOS (1-877-464-3467) or visit Verizon's FiOS Web site at www.verizonfios.com.  In the Houston area, consumers should look for colorful Verizon FiOS signs that indicate the service is available in the subdivision or apartment complex.

Verizon is the first and only major telecommunications company to be certified by the independent Fiber to the Home Council as providing customers with 100 percent fiber-optic service, the ultimate communications and entertainment technology.

There are three tiers of Verizon FiOS Internet Service for Texas consumers:

• Up to 5 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream. Suited for Internet surfing and basic computer functions. $39.99 a month with an annual service plan.

• Up to 15 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream. Appealing to families that have multiple computers and various needs such as media downloads and the ability to access or share large files. $49.99 a month with an annual service plan.
• Up to 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream. Designed for communications-intensive power users with significant bandwidth needs, such as telecommuters or work-at-home households and avid online gamers. $179.95 a month with an annual service plan.

Each consumer data offer includes: a wireless broadband home router; Verizon's Surround entertainment portal optimized for high-speed access featuring news, games, streaming video and more; virtually unlimited 2 GB (gigabytes) of  e-mail capacity with up to nine e-mail accounts; and 24/7 live technical support. To expand the availability of FiOS in the Houston area, Verizon has devoted an experienced sales team to negotiate with developers and property owners so that FiOS can be made available in new subdivisions and apartment complexes.

Verizon, the first company to connect homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread national scale, offers its FiOS voice and Internet service in more than 1,700 cities in 16 states, and provides its FiOS TV service in more than 400 cities in 10 states.

Market research firm RVA Render & Associates, on behalf of the Fiber to the Home Council, recently reported on the success of video competition in Texas.  In its study, the firm stated that video via fiber to the home has grown eight times faster in Texas than it has in the rest of the country since Texas Senate Bill 5, which streamlines the video franchising process, was signed into law.  RVA has also has reported that real estate developers who had direct fiber feeds deployed to their homes believe the fiber would add between $4,000 and $7,000 to the asking price of an average home.

* NOTE: Actual (throughput) speeds will vary.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, 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 60.7 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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