Verizon Deploys Fiber Optics, Electronics, Bringing Additional Advanced Technology, Services To Centre County

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Verizon Communications is investing more than $450,000 to modernize the local telecommunications network and provide additional broadband capability to its customers in the Bellefonte area. This represents one of the company's largest fiber-optic projects in Centre County this year.

Verizon is installing underground equipment vaults at the Airport Industrial Park near the University Park Airport and the Penn Eagle Industrial Park in Centre County. The new facilities will house additional fiber-optic cable and electronic equipment serving area businesses. In addition, this advanced technology will enable future growth and provide additional capacity and reliability in the Verizon network.

Verizon expects to complete the project by the end of September. Fiber-optic systems use hair-thin glass strands and digital technology to deliver high quality telephone services along with high-capacity/high-speed voice and data services.

"These projects are 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 advanced technology in its network:

• Investment in Verizon Pennsylvania's (formerly Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania) network will reach $1 billion this year, totaling $3 billion in the past three years.

• Fiber miles in the Verizon Pennsylvania network increased from 911,308 in 1999 to 997,442 in 2000.

• Verizon Pennsylvania fulfilled its commitment to the state Public Utility Commission to convert all of its 218 switching offices to digital technology by the end of last year.

"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 (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 112 million access line equivalents and 27 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with approximately 260,000 employees and more than $65 billion in annual 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.