Consumers Can Ring in the New Year With Lifetime-Guaranteed Verizon High Speed Internet Prices Starting at $17.99 per Month

NEW YORK (Map) - Verizon's up-to-7.1 Megabits per Second Service, Starting at $37.99 per Month, Now Available to Over 9 Million Households

NEW YORK, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers can now get a broadband boost without straining their home budgets by signing up for Verizon's High Speed Internet (HSI) service at a price that is guaranteed for life.

Effective immediately, new Verizon customers who subscribe to a two-year plan can be sure of the cost - for as long as they keep the service.

The new price guarantee delivers savings of $2 to $8 per month ($24 to $96 per year), depending on the speed selected and service area. The HSI Price Guarantee offer can be ordered through Feb. 21.

"Reliable, value-oriented Internet access service will continue to be extremely important to consumers in 2009," said Susan Retta, Verizon vice president for consumer product management. "In this challenging economy, consumers need broadband more than ever to stay connected, seek good deals online, start new home-based businesses or even search for jobs. Verizon's DSL-based High Speed Internet service remains a very popular solution for consumers.

"We already provide a great product, in a range of speeds, with great performance and reliability, and now we have added the certainty that pricing will not increase," Retta added.

The High Speed Internet service price is based on available Internet download speeds. Service with speeds of up to 1 megabits per second (Mbps) is priced at $17.99 per month; up to 3 Mbps at $27.99 per month; and up to 7.1 Mbps at $37.99 per month.

(Note: Verizon on Wednesday (Jan. 7) also announced new bundle promotions that aid budget-minded consumers. See the related news release at www.verizon.com/newscenter)

Verizon Significantly Expands Reach of up-to-7.1 Mbps Internet Service

In addition to the new price guarantees, Verizon has expanded the availability of its superfast high-speed up-to-7.1 Mbps Internet service to meet the growing needs of consumers who want more broadband speed.

Launched early in 2008 to an initial 400,000 homes, the up-to-7.1 Mbps service now reaches more than 9 million homes nationwide as a result of network upgrades. The service allows Internet users to download information at speeds 125 times faster than a 56 kilobits-per-second (Kbps) dial-up modem.

Verizon High Speed Internet, based on digital subscriber line technology, provides customers with a dedicated broadband connection from the Verizon central switching office to their home. Today, about 80 percent of Verizon-served households can get High Speed Internet service.

Verizon High Speed Internet subscribers have access to an extensive collection of value-added services, including 250 MB (megabytes) of free Online Backup and Sharing that provides useful disaster recovery support. The 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 subscribe to an array of device protection plans such as Protection Pak Enhanced that 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 the 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 nearly 71 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 more than 228,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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