Verizon Offers Money-Saving Calling Choices To Customers in 29 Additional Indiana Exchanges

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -Verizon is expanding availability of its money-saving, local calling plans to about 86,000 residential and business customers in 29 additional Indiana telephone exchanges.

Local calling plans increase the number of communities that subscribers can call without paying long-distance charges.

Customers in these exchanges now may find that one of the optional Verizon local calling plans can save them money on calls they place to nearby communities. Savings will vary, depending on individual customer calling patterns.

New local calling plans are now available to customers in Arlington, Blountsville, Brookville, Cambridge City, Carthage, Centerville, Connersville, Dunkirk, Farmland, Fountain City, Glenwood, Greens Fork, Hagerstown, Laurel, Liberty, Lynn, Mays, Milroy, Modoc, Mooreland, Morristown, Redkey, Richmond, Ridgeville, Rushville, Spiceland, Springport, West College Corner and Winchester.

"Verizon is continually working to enhance the value of its service for customers," said John Dudley, Great Lakes regional president for Verizon. "We're pleased to offer our local calling plans as additional choices and lower-priced calling alternatives for our customers in Indiana."

Dudley said the company will offer similar calling plans throughout Indiana by August 2002. Currently, they are available in 138 Indiana communities.

The Verizon local calling plans are optional. Customers can select one of three plans to fit their needs.

• The Community Calling Plan enables customers to continue to place calls within their current local calling area at current flat rates and place calls to additional communities at a rate of 7 cents per minute, instead of paying long-distance charges.

• The Community Plus Calling Plan expands the number of communities to which a customer can place calls for a flat monthly rate. Customers can also place calls to additional locations at 7 cents per minute.

• The Premium Calling Plan is similar to the Community Plus Calling Plan with an expanded number of communities included in a customer's local calling area. With the Premium Calling Plan, a block of calling time (15 hours for residential customers and 20 hours for business customers) applies for calls to additional exchanges. If customers use up their block of time, additional calls to those communities are priced at 7 cents per minute.

Complete details and prices of the new calling plans will be mailed to customers prior to the end of the month. To subscribe to one of the new plans, customers should complete and return the form included with the mailing. Residential customers can also call Verizon toll-free at 1-800-483-4000. Business customers should call 1-800-483-5000.

Verizon Communications

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.