Washington Is Final State to Approve Verizon-MCI Transaction

NEW YORK and ASHBURN, Va. - With the approval today by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, Verizon and MCI have successfully completed all the state, federal and international approvals for the two companies to be combined.

The final state approval today sets the stage for Verizon to close on its acquisition of MCI, as planned, early in January, after all requirements in the merger agreement are met.

Since the transaction was announced last February, the two companies had been seeking the approval of various regulatory agencies. The companies have now received formal approval from 22 states and the District of Columbia. Although additional formal approval was not required from other states, many of them reviewed the transaction, and either approved it or decided to take no further action.

"All the states that reviewed the combination of Verizon and MCI found that it was in the public interest and that customers will benefit," said Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president, public affairs, policy and communications. "Verizon's acquisition of MCI will ensure the continued presence of a national, full-service company with the technology and financial strength to deliver the broadband future and create economic growth for America. Verizon believes this combination is a great deal for both companies. And it's an even better deal for our customers."

Jim Lewis, MCI senior vice president of policy and planning, said, "The Verizon-MCI combination will capitalize on the complementary strengths of each company and benefit Washington businesses and consumers by creating one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Today's approval concludes the regulatory review process, and we look forward to delivering the benefits of this transaction to U.S. consumers and the enterprise market as a combined company."

The Verizon-MCI combination, part of the continuing evolution of the industry driven by customers and technology, will create one of the world's leading providers of communications services. The transaction will enable Verizon to better compete for and serve large-business and government customers with a full range of services, including wireless and sophisticated Internet protocol-based services. It will benefit consumers and businesses by creating a supplier with the financial strength to maintain and improve MCI's extensive Internet backbone network.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other communication innovations to wireline and wireless customers. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 49.3 million customers nationwide, and one of the nation's premier wireline networks, serving home, business and wholesale customers in 28 states. Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of nearly 215,000 and generates annual revenues of more than $71 billion from four business segments: Domestic Telecom, Domestic Wireless, Information Services and International. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCIP) is a leading global communications provider, delivering innovative, cost-effective, advanced communications connectivity to businesses, governments and consumers. With one of the most expansive global IP backbones and wholly-owned data networks, MCI develops the converged communications products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications in today's market. For more information, go to www.mci.com.

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^{NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: a significant change in the timing of, or the imposition of any government conditions to, the closing of the transaction; actual and contingent liabilities; and the extent and timing of our ability to obtain revenue enhancements and cost savings following the transaction. Additional factors that may affect the future results of Verizon and MCI are set forth in their respective filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at investor.verizon.com/SEC/ and www.mci.com/about/investor_relations/sec/.}