Verizon Deploys New Digital Switch Technology In Downingtown Area of Chester County

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. - Verizon Communications has invested more than $2 million to modernize the local telecommunications network and provide additional telephone lines to its customers in the fast-growing Downingtown area of Chester County.

Verizon has expanded the capacity of its digital switches, state-of-the-art computers that route calls to their destinations in the Downingtown area. This advanced technology will enable future growth and provide additional capacity and reliability in the Verizon network. Verizon has more than 30,000 phone lines in operation in the Downingtown and nearby communities. The digital switch upgrade was completed recently.

''This project is 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.''

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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