Verizon Begins Rollout of One-Bill Option For Wireless and Home Services Customers in New York
NEW YORK — Some New Yorkers can now consolidate their Verizon Wireless and their Bell Atlantic local, toll, long distance, high-speed Internet access and calling feature services on a single bill.
Customers in parts of New York City are receiving notices this week in their Bell Atlantic local service bills advising that they may be eligible to consolidate their billing, if they choose. The offer will be expanded to other areas in the coming months.
"We know our customers want the convenience of a single bill for their telecommunications services," said Amy Sherter, director of full service packaging for Verizon Communications. "It's one of the fruits they most want to pluck from today's fully-competitive telecommunications market."
The offer is being made progressively via mailings to potentially qualified customers of Bell Atlantic's "landline" services in Queens, Manhattan, Nassau and Suffolk Counties this month and will be offered to customers in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Westchester County next month. Expansion into the New England states and Connecticut will follow.
The option can be exercised by calling a special number listed in the bill insert, by enrolling on-line, or by picking up an enrollment card at a Verizon Wireless store. This feature is not currently available through local Bell Atlantic business offices or Verizon Wireless customer services. Additional options for arranging a single bill are being developed.
For New Yorkers, adding their Verizon Wireless account to their Bell Atlantic local service bill means they will now be able to receive one bill for all their telecommunications services, and make just one payment, if they also subscribe to Bell Atlantic's long distance service.
Recently, some long distance companies have begun to bill for services directly, no longer taking advantage of agreements with Bell Atlantic to do billing for them. Long distance customers of Bell Atlantic Communications, Inc., in New York still receive a consolidated bill.
"We're giving customers what they want," Sherter said. "We'll bring our wireless bill onto the home services bill for a tremendous advantage to our customers."
Customers are urged to watch their local phone bills for notice of availability in their area.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, 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 95 million access lines and 25 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 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.
####