Verizon Avenue Now Offers High-Speed Internet Access Service to Apartment and Condominium Communities in Boston

BOSTON -- Verizon Avenue, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications and a leading provider of telecommunications and data services, is now providing high-speed Internet access service to apartment and condominium buildings in Boston.

The high-speed Internet service, called Verizon Voyager, is provided using digital subscriber line (DSL) technology located at each property. Verizon Avenue launched high-speed Internet access to multi-tenant buildings in New York City in April and is now installing the DSL equipment and network connections at properties in Boston and in other major cities throughout the U.S.

"The Voyager service capitalizes on the exciting capabilities of broadband, and gives property owners another feature to attract and retain residents," said Liz Quimson, general manager for Verizon Avenue in Boston.

Marketing agreements with the property owners allow Verizon Avenue to deploy high-speed Internet (Internet is a proper noun, but high-speed is just an adjective) access over regular copper phone lines at each property. Verizon Avenue installs high-speed Internet-access equipment on site to connect residents to the Internet. The placement of access equipment on the premises eliminates distance limitations, so high-speed Internet access can be delivered to every resident with a phone connection. The on-site property management staff markets Voyager as an amenity to their residents.

In the Boston area, Verizon Voyager is currently offered at The Residences at Rowes Wharf, the Flagship Wharf Condominiums and 2000 Commonwealth Avenue, a Charles E. Smith Residential property.

"Rowes Wharf attracts residents with lifestyles that demand the best in amenities - such as high-speed Internet access," said Katherine McCabe Scott, manager of The Residences at Rowes Wharf. "Working with a nationally recognized provider like Verizon Avenue makes good strategic sense." High-speed access enables subscribers to transfer data, graphics, audio and video files at speeds considerably faster than a traditional 56K dial-up modem. Since the Internet connection taps into unused frequencies on a telephone line, customers can use the same line to simultaneously make phone calls and access the Internet with one click.

The Verizon Voyager services are offered in packages that include high-speed access, e-mail and personal Web space. The most popular Verizon Voyager packages are Choice Pak and Double Pak, two of the four options available to residents:

• Choice Pak is $49.95 per month for maximum connection speeds up to 768 Kbps (kilobits per second) download and 128 Kbps upload. This package includes four e-mail addresses with the VZAvenue.net domain and Web-mail access, 10 MB (megabytes) storage per mailbox and 10 MB personal Web space.
• Double Pak is $59.95 per month for maximum connection speeds up to 1.5 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 128 Kbps upstream. This package includes the ability for two users to logon simultaneously, eight e-mail addresses with the VZAvenue.net domain and Web-mail access, 10 MB storage per mailbox and 20 MB personal Web space (10 MB per logged-on user).

A $5 discount is available when residents purchase Internet access bundled with Verizon long distance service.

Residents can sign up for Verizon Avenue's package of services, including high-speed Internet access and telephone services, through the property management or leasing office or by calling 1-866-VZ-Avenue (1-866-892-8368). Once high-speed access is available in an apartment community or condominium complex, ordering and installation typically take only a couple of business days. Technical support is available seven days a week.

Verizon Avenue also provides each building a branded community network page which is a gateway to the Internet, while offering residents the ability to post messages for other residents and make service requests online.

All the downstream and upstream speeds describing Verizon's DSL services are theoretical maximum connection speeds between the customer's computer and Verizon's DSL equipment. Actual connection speeds will vary from the maximum speeds and often will be lower. Throughput or download speeds refer to the speed at which data is transferred to a customer's computer from the Internet and are lower than connection speeds. Download speeds will differ based on numerous factors, including the length of the customer's line (or distance) from telephone company facilities, condition of the phone line and inside wiring, network and Internet congestion, and the server and Web-site configurations of the Internet sites visited. Kilobits per second and megabits per second are measures of how fast data is transmitted. The data rates for "downstream" and "upstream" refer to the maximum connection speeds between a customer's computer and Verizon's DSL equipment.

Verizon Avenue, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications, is a leading provider of packaged data and voice communications services for the multi-dwelling unit (MDU) market. The company's real estate installations include AIMCO, AvalonBay, Charles E. Smith Residential, Equity, United Dominion and Walden. Verizon Avenue high-speed Internet access is now available in the Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York and Washington, D.C markets, with expansion planned to new cities and buildings. Phone services also are currently available in major markets including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles.

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, www.verizon.com.

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