Verizon Provides Great Home-Improvement Value for Consumers With Its DSL-Based High Speed Internet Service

NEW YORK - As consumers continue to seek value and predictability for their home communications and entertainment costs, Verizon is offering bundles of Verizon High Speed Internet (HSI) service, Verizon Freedom unlimited local and long-distance calling services, and DIRECTV service, starting at $79.99 per month.

New customers who order a Verizon service bundle by June 20 can get an even sweeter deal with a current promotion that offers up to $150 back in the form of a prepaid card.

"We are helping consumers handle today's strained budgets by providing greater value than what cable companies offer," said Susan Retta, Verizon vice president of consumer product management.  "Our bundles give consumers all-digital-quality DIRECTV; highly reliable High Speed Internet connections perfect for surfing the Web or sending e-mail; and unlimited local and long-distance phone service delivered on Verizon's 99.9 percent reliable network.  And with up to $150 back, consumers have a great incentive to upgrade their home entertainment services now."

In addition to the value-priced bundles, Verizon will continue to offer its non-bundled HSI service, based on digital subscriber line technology, with a lifetime price guarantee of $17.99 per month for speeds of up to 1 megabits per second (Mbps), $27.99 per month for up to 3 Mbps, and $37.99 per month for up to 7.1 Mbps. Customers must sign up for a two-year commitment.

Verizon High Speed Internet is the company's most popular and most widely available broadband data service, available to more than 20 million households in parts of 24 states and the District of Columbia.  Verizon HSI subscribers are not subject to bandwidth caps that some Internet service providers assess, so there's no penalty for heavy use of broadband service.  

According to PC Magazine's 2008 readers' survey, Verizon High Speed Internet beat the average cable provider's score in reliability, the likelihood of a customer choosing an Internet service provider, as well as the associated costs and fees for the service.

In the spirit of the spring home-improvement season, consumers who order Verizon's High Speed Internet service by June 20 can also take advantage of one free phone consultation with the company's premium technical support team, within 30 days of their order.  This offer covers a broad range of services including home network configuration, PC and printer setup and operating system and software support.  This is a $90 value, and is above and beyond what comes free with Verizon's 24 x 7 standard technical support.

"Whether a customer selects our value-packed bundles, or High Speed Internet with a price guarantee, we are making it easy to switch from a cable provider to Verizon," said Retta.

Verizon HSI customers also receive access to an extensive portfolio of value-added services, including 250 MB (megabytes) of free Verizon Online Backup and Sharing, which provides useful disaster-recovery support. 

The company's popular Verizon Internet Security Suite provides comprehensive online protection from spyware and viruses for as little as $5.99 a month and includes a firewall, parental control, a pop-up-blocker and privacy manager software to help keep customers safe from hackers and phishing attacks.

In addition, customers can protect their home-entertainment and communications investments by subscribing to a comprehensive suite of device protection plans such as Protection Pak Enhanced, which, in cases of a malfunction, cover the repair or replacement of all eligible computers, telephones and TVs in a customer's home, regardless of the device's place of purchase or age.  Coverage is less than $1 a day.

Customers can obtain more information about Verizon's High Speed Internet service by visiting www.verizon.net/highspeed or by calling 1-800-483-4000.

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 80 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 employs a diverse workforce of nearly 224,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $97 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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