Verizon Earns 'Light Reading' Carrier Scorecard's Highest Grade Ever

NEW YORK - Citing continued growth in customers of Verizon's all-fiber FiOS TV and Internet products as well as revenue and net income momentum, online news source Light Reading has given Verizon the highest grade ever in its quarterly Carrier Scorecard: an A-.

Each quarter, Light Reading publishes scorecards on the world's most influential publicly held carriers, giving them a grade of A through F based on their financial and business performance. 

"Now, with net income on the rise again and the continued steady growth in revenue, it seems only appropriate to give Verizon the first-ever grade in the 'A' range," Light Reading said in its Aug. 7 report.  "Its FiOS service roared past the one million mark in Internet subscribers and just inched past half a million TV subscribers.  The company's stock is now trading near its 52-week high and outperformed the S&P 500 in the second quarter by more than 4 percent."

Keiko Harvey, senior vice president for Verizon's FiOS data and video network services, said, "This recognition from Light Reading, coupled with other recognition we've received recently, continues to demonstrate that FiOS and our fiber-straight-to-the-home network is a winner with customers."

Verizon is the only company deploying fiber optics all the way to customer's homes on a mass scale - allowing the company to provide its industry-leading FiOS Internet and FiOS TV products to customers in parts of 16 states.  Today, customers can purchase FiOS Internet at speeds of up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and up to 10 Mbps upstream.  Verizon's FiOS TV is a formidable competitor to cable and satellite, offering a broad collection of all-digital programming, 28 high-definition (HD) channels in the New York market and access to more than 8,600 on-demand titles, 60 percent of which are free. For more information, visit:  www.verizonfios.com

Light Reading's entire Carrier Scorecard can be found at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=130930

About Light Reading
Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. It reaches an extensive audience of executives and technologists within the telecom and enterprise networking communities, as well as the financial/industry analysts and investors who track these sectors. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology.

About Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 62 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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NOTE: This news 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: materially adverse changes in economic and industry conditions and labor matters, including workforce levels and labor negotiations, and any resulting financial and/or operational impact, in the markets served by us or by companies in which we have substantial investments; material changes in available technology, including disruption of our suppliers' provisioning of critical products and services; technology substitution; an adverse change in the ratings afforded our debt securities by nationally accredited ratings organizations; the final results of federal and state regulatory proceedings concerning our provision of retail and wholesale services and judicial review of those results; the effects of competition in our markets; the timing, scope and financial impacts of our deployment of fiber-to-the-premises broadband technology; the ability of Verizon Wireless to continue to obtain sufficient spectrum resources; changes in our accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on earnings; and the extent and timing of our ability to obtain revenue enhancements and cost savings following our business combination with MCI, Inc.