Verizon Offers Unlimited Local Calling to Raleigh For Wake County Customers

DURHAM, N.C. -- Verizon's Wake County customers in the Durham exchange can now choose a calling plan that lets them make unlimited local phone calls to Raleigh and several other nearby exchanges at no additional charge. Thousands of existing and prospective customers eligible to subscribe to the new service now pay a per-minute charge when they call those exchanges.

Those selecting Verizon's new optional Raleigh Border Plan, which took effect June 30, must change their phone number to one that starts with 293.

"This plan is welcome news for many of our Durham exchange customers who are near the border with the Raleigh exchange," said Joe Foster, Verizon's vice president for regulatory and government affairs in North Carolina. "They told us they wanted to call Raleigh on a flat-rate basis. We heard them loud and clear, and responded with a creative approach that allows them to do just that."

Verizon customers who subscribe to the Raleigh Border Plan will have unlimited local calling to nearly a half-million telephone access lines in the following exchanges, many of which are served by BellSouth and Sprint: Apex, Creedmore/Butner, Garner, Raleigh/Durham Airport, Wendell, the Research Triangle Park (Verizon and BellSouth-served areas), Durham (293 numbers only), Knightdale, Zebulon, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Raleigh and Wake Forest.

Subscribers to the Raleigh Border Plan will have measured calling (per-minute charges) on calls to Durham (except for those numbers that start with 293), Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. The rate for the measured calls is six cents per call, plus 4.5 cents for each minute of the call. The rate is discounted 50 percent for calls placed at night (11 p.m. - 8 a.m.) and on weekends.

The plan is available to Verizon's Wake County customers with no increase in the monthly rate. Those who switch to the plan will pay a one-time service charge of $28.55 for residential customers and $37.95 for business customers.

Directory listings of those subscribing to the plan will appear in the local directories of both Sprint and Bell South, as well as Verizon's Durham directory.

To subscribe to the new plan, Verizon's residential customers should call 800-483-4000 (toll-free) during normal business hours. Business customers should call 800-483-5000.

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 133.8 million access line equivalents and approximately 29.6 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. With more than $67 billion in annual revenues and nearly 248,000 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.

####