Verizon to Offer Extended Area Calling Plan In 50 More Illinois Exchanges Beginning April 16

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Verizon customers in 50 additional exchanges now can take advantage of a new local calling plan that can save them money while giving them larger local calling areas.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has approved the extended area service (EAS) plan which results in changes in the way some calls are billed and dialed.

Under the extended area calling plan, Verizon customers can call additional nearby communities without paying long-distance charges and by dialing just seven or 10 digits, instead of the 1 + 10 digits they previously dialed.

"We continue to enhance the value of our service," said James R. Hargrave, Verizon assistant vice president - public policy & external affairs for Illinois. "Our new calling plan provides more rate options for our customers and delivers lower-priced calling alternatives."

The new plan allows residential and business customers to call all communities within the same market service area (MSA) and a 15-mile radius of their own exchange without paying local toll charges. All such calls are considered local.

With the plan, customers dial seven digits to reach other numbers within their area code and MSA and dial 10 digits (area code + telephone number) to reach numbers in all other area codes within the new 15-mile local calling radius.

Customers need to reprogram fax machines, PBXs, key systems, alarm systems, medical alert systems, dial-up numbers for Internet access or Custom Calling features to work with the new, shorter telephone numbers.

Verizon has expanded the calling plan to its customers in the following exchanges:

Anna, Ava, Benton, Brookport, Carbondale, Carterville, Christopher, Cobden, Coulterville, Creal Springs, Cypress, De Soto, Dongola, DuQuoin, Eldorado, Elkville, Ellis Grove, Evansville, Ewing, Golconda, Goreville, Harrisburg, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Joppa, Karnak, Marion, Marissa, Metropolis, Murphysboro, Paulton, Percy, Pinckneyville, Raleigh, Ridgway, Royalton, Sesser, Shawneetown, Sparta, Steeleville, Stonefort, Thompsonville, Tilden, Ullin, Vienna, Villa Ridge, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

As approved by the ICC, the town of Chester, offered EAS in 2000, will automatically have EAS as a standard part of its local calling area. The current monthly service charge and billing remain the same.

The extended calling plan is available to Verizon customers in 378 exchanges across the state.

Under the new calling plan, local calls to additional nearby communities are priced at current, local Usage Sensitive Service rates. Usage Sensitive Service is $17.02 monthly, plus customers pay a call-connection charge of 3 cents per call and 1.8 cents per minute for a call.

The cost of calls within a customer's home exchange remains the same; residential customers currently pay 3.4 cents per call with no per-minute calling charges. Business customers currently pay a call-connection charge of 1.88 cents and .93 cent per minute. These charges are discounted 50 percent on weekends, holidays and from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays.

Under the extended calling area plan, residential customers can also select the 11-cents-per-call option. Under this option, they pay the same monthly fee as before, $17.02, plus a flat, 11-cents-per-call charge with no per-minute charge for calls to nearby communities. Calls within the home exchange remain 3.4 cents each, with no per-minute calling charges. These charges also are discounted 50 percent on weekends, holidays and from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays.

Residential customers interested in the 11-cents-per-call option can call Verizon toll-free at 1-800-483-4000 to enroll in the plan.

Details of the proposed calling plan have been provided to Verizon customers in the 50 additional Illinois exchanges in their phone bills.

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 132.1 million access line equivalents and 29.4 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. With more than $67 billion in annual revenues and approximately 247,000 employees, 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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New Local Calling Areas
Extended Area Service Calling Plan

The following list identifies communities that are in the local calling area of each of the affected exchanges under Verizon's extended area calling plan. New local calling areas are in bold type.

Calls from the Anna exchange (618) 833: Cobden, Cypress, Dongola and Ullin.

Calls from the Ava exchange (618) 426: Elkville, Glenn, Murphysboro, Percy, Pinckneyville and Steeleville.

Calls from the Benton exchange (618) 435, 438, 439: Christopher, Ewing, Johnston City, Royalton, Sesser, Thompsonville, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Brookport exchange (618) 564: Joppa and Metropolis.

Calls from the Carbondale exchange (618) 351, 453, 457, 527, 529, 536, 549: Carterville, Cobden, De Soto, Elkville, Herrin, Hurst, Murphysboro and Royalton.

Calls from the Carrier Mills exchange (618) 994: Creal Springs, Eddyville, Eldorado, Harrisburg, Paulton, Raleigh and Stonefort.

Calls from the Carterville exchange (618) 985: Carbondale, Christopher, De Soto, Elkville, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Marion, Murphysboro, Paulton, Royalton, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Chester exchange (618) 826: Blair, Ellis Grove, Evansville, Percy and Steeleville.

Calls from the Christopher exchange (618) 724: Benton, Carterville, De Soto, DuQuoin, Elkville, Ewing, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Royalton, Sesser, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Cobden exchange (618) 893: Anna, Carbondale and Dongola.

Calls from the Coulterville exchange (618) 758: Baldwin, Blair, Marissa, Percy, Pinckneyville, Sparta, Steelville and Tilden.

Calls from the Creal Springs exchange (618) 996: Carrier Mills, Goreville, Johnston City, Marion, Paulton, Simpson, Stonefort and Vienna.

Calls from the Cypress exchange (618) 657: Anna, Dongola, Goreville, Joppa, Karnak, Ullin and Vienna.

Calls from the De Soto exchange (618) 867: Carbondale, Carterville, Christopher, DuQuoin, Elkville, Herrin, Hurst, Murphysboro, Royalton and Zeigler.

Calls from the Dongola exchange (618) 827: Anna, Cobden, Cypress, Karnak, Tamms, Ullin, Vienna and Villa Ridge.

Calls from the DuQuoin exchange (618) 542: Christopher, De Soto, Elkville, Hurst, Pinckneyville, Royalton, Tamaroa, Sesser and Zeigler.

Calls from the Eldorado exchange (618) 273: Carrier Mills, Equality, Harrisburg, Leamington, Raleigh and Ridgway.

Calls from the Elkville exchange (618) 568: Ava, Carbondale, Carterville, Christopher, De Soto, DuQuoin, Herrin, Hurst, Murphysboro, Pinckneyville, Royalton and Zeigler.

Calls from the Ellis Grove exchange (618) 859: Baldwin, Blair, Chester, Evansville, Sparta and Steeleville.

Calls from the Evansville exchange (618) 853: Baldwin, Blair, Chester, Ellis Grove, Marissa and Sparta.

Calls from the Ewing exchange (618) 629: Benton, Christopher, Sesser, Thompsonville and West Frankfort.

Calls from the Golconda exchange (618) 683: Eddyville, Elizabethtown, Hicks, Renshaw and Rosiclare.

Calls from the Goreville exchange (618) 995: Creal Springs, Cypress, Marion, Simpson, Stonefort and Vienna.

Calls from the Harrisburg exchange (618) 252, 253: Carrier Mills, Eldorado, Equality, Leamington, Raleigh and Stonefort.

Calls from the Herrin exchange (618) 942, 988: Carbondale, Carterville, Christopher, De Soto, Elkville, Hurst, Johnston City, Marion, Paulton, Royalton, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Hurst exchange (618) 987: Carbondale, Carterville, Christopher, De Soto, DuQuoin, Elkville, Herrin, Johnston City, Marion, Murphysboro, Royalton, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Johnston City exchange (618) 983: Benton, Carterville, Christopher, Creal Springs, Herrin, Hurst, Marion, Paulton, Royalton, Thompsonville, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Joppa exchange (618) 543: Brookport, Cypress, Karnak, Metropolis and Vienna.

Calls from the Karnak exchange (618) 634: Cypress, Dongola, Joppa, Ullin and Vienna.

Calls from the Marion exchange (618) 964, 993, 997, 998: Carterville, Creal Springs, Goreville, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Paulton, Royalton, Stonefort, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Marissa exchange (618) 295: Baldwin, Blair, Coulterville, Evansville, Sparta and Tilden.

Calls from the Metropolis exchange (618) 524: Brookport and Joppa.

Calls from the Murphysboro exchange (618) 684, 687: Ava, Carbondale, Carterville, De Soto, Elkville, Glenn, Hurst and Royalton.

Calls from the Paulton exchange (618) 982: Carrier Mills, Carterville, Creal Springs, Herrin, Johnston City, Marion, Stonefort, Thompsonville and West Frankfort.

Calls from the Percy exchange (618) 497: Ava, Blair, Chester, Coulterville, Pinckneyville, Sparta, Steeleville and Tilden.

Calls from the Pinckneyville exchange (618) 357: Ava, Coulterville, DuQuoin, Elkville and Percy.

Calls from the Raleigh exchange (618) 268: Carrier Mills, Eldorado, Equality, Harrisburg, Ridgway and Thompsonville.

Calls from the Ridgway exchange (618) 272: Eldorado, Equality, Leamington, New Haven, Omaha, Raleigh and Shawneetown.

Calls from the Royalton exchange (618) 984: Benton, Carbondale, Carterville, Christopher, De Soto, DuQuoin, Elkville, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Marion, Murphysboro, Royalton, Sesser, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Sesser exchange (618) 625: Benton, Christopher, DuQuoin, Ewing, Royalton, West Frankfort and Zeigler.

Calls from the Shawneetown exchange (618) 269: Equality, Leamington and Ridgway.

Calls from the Sparta exchange (618) 443: Baldwin, Blair, Coulterville, Ellis Grove, Evansville, Marissa, Percy, Steeleville and Tilden.

Calls from the Steeleville exchange (618) 965: Ava, Blair, Chester, Coulterville, Ellis Grove, Percy, Sparta and Tilden.

Calls from the Stonefort exchange (618) 777: Carrier Mills, Creal Springs, Eddyville, Goreville, Harrisburg, Marion, Paulton, Simpson and Vienna.

Calls from the Thompsonville exchange (618) 627: Benton, Ewing, Johnston City, Paulton, Raleigh and West Frankfort.

Calls from the Tilden exchange (618) 587: Baldwin, Blair, Coulterville, Marissa, Percy, Sparta, Steeleville and Tilden.

Calls from the Ullin exchange (618) 845: Anna, Cypress, Dongola, Karnak, Mound City, Mounds, Olive Branch, Tamms, Ullin and Villa Ridge.

Calls from the Vienna exchange (618) 658: Creal Springs, Cypress, Dongola, Eddyville, Goreville, Joppa, Karnak, Renshaw, Simpson and Stonefort.

Calls from the Villa Ridge exchange (618) 342: Cairo, Dongola, Mound City, Mounds, Olive Branch, Tamms, Ullin and Villa Ridge.

Calls from the West Frankfort exchange (618) 932, 937: Benton, Carterville, Christopher, Ewing, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Marion, Paulton, Royalton, Sesser, Thompsonville and Zeigler.

Calls from the Zeigler exchange (618) 596: Benton, Carterville, Christopher, De Soto, DuQuoin, Elkville, Herrin, Hurst, Johnston City, Marion, Royalton, Sesser and West Frankfort.

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