Verizon Invests $2.5 Million to Better Serve Big Island Customers

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HONOLULU - Verizon Hawaii customers along the Hamakua Coastline on the Big Island are receiving improved communication services as a result of a $2.5 million upgrade of Verizon's telecommunications network.

The company recently completed a multi-million dollar project to construct a self-healing, fiber-optic cable ring on the Big Island between Hilo and Kamuela. The ring, which extends from Hilo along the Hamakua Coastline to Kamuela and back to Hilo via Saddle Road, meets East Hawaii's growing need for more network capacity and increases the reliability of telecommunications services for area residents and businesses.

"Our highly reliable Big Island fiber network already consists of numerous SONET fiber rings. However, until now, we lacked a major self-healing ring that links East Hawaii to West Hawaii," said Verizon Big Island Manager Dwayne Miyashiro. "In addition, the fiber technology allows us to offer the latest high-capacity data services to Hamakua-area customers."

Self-healing fiber-optic rings are invaluable because they help to automatically reroute data and voice traffic in the blink of an eye. If one part of the self-healing fiber ring is accidentally severed due to a car accident or extreme weather conditions, sophisticated switching equipment almost instantaneously routes the connection to an alternate path so customers experience no service interruption.

A fiber-optic network possesses numerous advantages for businesses by allowing voice and data information to be transmitted over the same line. The fiber network provides the necessary high speed and nearly unlimited bandwidth capacity so customers will have access to services such as high-speed Verizon Online DSL, interactive videoconferencing and the most advanced data transmission capabilities. It also transmits information at the speed of light. For example, it would take 50 hours to transmit the 43-million-word Encyclopedia Britannica over copper wire with a standard modem, but it could be zipped over a fiber optic network in just two seconds.

A Fortune 10 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services, with approximately $67 billion in revenues and 221,000 employees. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 137.6 million access line equivalents and 34.6 million Verizon Wireless customers. Verizon is the third largest long-distance carrier for U.S. consumers, with 14.6 million long-distance lines. The company is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. Verizon's international presence includes wireline and wireless communications operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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