Verizon Wireless Receives Urban League of Bergen County Industry Award

TEANECK, N.J. — Charles Hand, president of the Verizon Wireless' New York Metro region, was honored with the Urban League of Bergen County's Industry Award for his leadership in the business community. The annual award, presented May 11 at the League's annual dinner, recognizes businesses and individuals that exemplify the Urban League's mission of "equal access to all."

Hand was praised for his personal commitment to diversity and his company's efforts to provide equal opportunities to all its employees. Verizon Wireless, formerly Bell Atlantic Mobile, also was cited for its sense of community and civic responsibility as demonstrated through its "Wireless at Work" community service program.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 16 million wireless voice and data customers and nearly 4 million paging customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL) and Vodafone AirTouch Plc (LSE:VOD; NYSE:VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. Verizon Wireless will be further strengthened by the addition of the wireless assets of GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE) when it completes its merger with Bell Atlantic. When the merger is complete, the new company will have a footprint covering nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. Verizon Wireless, headquartered in New York City and Bedminster, NJ, is 30,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company in its Media Center on the Web at: http://www.verizonwireless.com/mediacenter.

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