Verizon Network Now All-Digital in Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA - With the installation of a state-of-the art digital switch in Philadelphia, Verizon Communications' telecommunications network is now 100 percent digitally switched in Pennsylvania. Digital switching means more efficient and more reliable service for Pennsylvania customers.

All 218 of Verizon's switches in the former Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania territory have now been upgraded to digital as part of Verizon's' commitment the state Public Utility Commission to achieve this milestone by the end of this year. All switches in areas of the state formerly served by GTE also are digital. Switches are cutting-edge computers that route calls to their destinations.

"This project is the latest evidence that Verizon is meeting its commitment to deliver a state-of-the-art telecommunications network throughout Pennsylvania," said Daniel J. Whelan, president of Verizon Pennsylvania. "We are accelerating our construction schedules to provide rural and urban customers with high-speed access to the Internet, work-at-home capabilities, as well as a host of other innovative advanced services."

Whelan said Verizon has made major strides in deploying additional advanced technology in its network:

• Investment in Verizon Pennsylvania's (formerly Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania) network totaled nearly $2 billion in 1999 and 2000 and will remain at this level in 2001.
• Miles of fiber-optic cable in the Verizon Pennsylvania network increased by 92 percent from 474,450 in 1995 to more than 911,000 in 1999.
• Verizon's Online DSL (digital subscriber line) service was launched in Pennsylvania in October 1998 and is now available to more than 1.5 million households and 3.3 million lines in the state. Verizon Online DSL is a high-speed connection to the Internet that enables users to connect to cyberspace at speeds much faster than today's fastest analog modems.

"Verizon is keeping its promises to Pennsylvania," Whelan said. "We are building and enhancing a public telecommunications network in Pennsylvania that is the finest in the world and is a vital part of the commonwealth's economic infrastructure."

In addition to deploying the latest technology, Verizon has spent tens of millions of dollars to open Pennsylvania's local telephone market to competition.

"We have irreversibly opened our markets to competition," Whelan said. "We can't force the long distance giants or anyone else to compete here, but anyone who genuinely wants to enter our markets can do so."

Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, 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 more than 101 million access line equivalents and more than 26 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com .