Verizon Wireless Completes $151 Million Enhancement To Illinois Network In 2005

SCHAUMBURG, Ill — Verizon Wireless announced today it completed $151 million in enhancements to its Illinois digital network in 2005. This investment, part of more than $672 million invested statewide over the past four years, included building new cell sites and upgrading existing cell sites to:

• improve call quality and capacity;
• increase coverage areas:
• expand the nation's largest high-speed wireless broadband network to areas within the state, enabling a variety of advanced services, including streaming video and other applications.

"There are numerous factors that drive our tremendous network investment," said Tracy Nolan, president—Illinois/Wisconsin Region, Verizon Wireless. "First, our customers are increasingly relying on their phones, so we need to ensure that we have enough capacity on our network to meet their needs. Additionally, we are committed to building out our coverage area across Illinois. Finally, wireless technology is advancing at a very rapid rate, enabling Verizon Wireless to introduce our customers to many new products and services."

Network highlights in Illinois for 2005 include:

• activation of 50 new cell sites to improve coverage and capacity;
  upgrades to equipment on 665 existing cell sites to increase capacity and coverage areas, and enable advanced services;
• installation of 113 permanent backup generators at cell sites to ensure network functionality during times of crisis;
• expansion of the company's Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) third generation (3G) wide-area network in Chicagoland. The EV-DO network enables two new services for Verizon Wireless customers:
  BroadbandAccess, the largest high-speed wireless broadband network in the United States geared toward business professionals, with average user speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second (kbps).
• V CAST, the nation's first wireless broadband multimedia service for consumers that brings high quality video, games, music and more to handsets.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 49.3 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, N.J., Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To receive broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

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