Verizon continued to go the distance in 2009 with its secure, reliable global network, which is the essential foundation for the company's award-winning wireline and wireless products and services for consumer, business and wholesale customers.

Verizon invested more than $17 billion this year in its leading wireless and wireline networks in the U.S. and internationally.  The Verizon global IP network serves more than 2,700 cities in 159 countries, and its wireless network reaches approximately 289 million Americans. 

"It's no accident that again this year, Verizon's consumer and business services won major industry awards," said Dick Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Verizon. "The better the network, the better the performance of the applications that ride on them. It's as simple as that."

Verizon's business, government and wholesale customers rely on the company's leading global IP network and advanced IP-based voice, video and data services and application aware tools, to provide an essential platform for customers' multinational business operations. Verizon continued to receive top honors from industry analysts and associations for its global network services.

In 2009, FiOS Internet, which rides on Verizon's all-fiber network, won a Readers Choice Award from PCMag.com, for the fourth consecutive year. FiOS Internet was ranked No. 1 in speed, overall customer satisfaction and reliability in the current survey.

Verizon Wireless topped the PCMag.com 2009 Service and Reliability Survey and received the Readers' Choice Award for Cell Services.

Global Network Capabilities Drive Leading Performance

Strategic network investments in 2009 provided additional reliability, resiliency and performance for Verizon's business, government and wholesale customers. Among the highlights:

• With the launch of its multiyear packet optical transport platform strategy, Verizon is creating a single, higher-capacity global platform that combines optical transport with advanced packet-switching technology. This optical switching gear can handle both traditional, time-division multiplexing transmissions as well as packet traffic to create a single, high-capacity intelligent network. Verizon has plans to integrate packet capabilities into its ultra-long-haul (ULH) network by early 2011.
• In December, Verizon became the first communications carrier to successfully deploy a commercial 100G (gigabits per second) ultra-long-haul optical system for live traffic on the company's European optical core network between Paris and Frankfurt. The accomplishment marked the first time for deployment of ultra-long-haul 100G using a single channel on a production network.
• With more than 5,200 additional miles added in 2009, Verizon continued to extend its ultra-long-haul network. Regions added this year include France and central regions of the U.K. as well as new routes in the existing ULH network in the U.S. ULH technology streamlines the network infrastructure and extends transmission without regeneration, eliminating thousands of pieces of equipment and physical connections among network elements, resulting in a more manageable and reliable network. ULH supports both 40G and 100G capacity, which pave the way for high-bandwidth data applications as customers push more high-bandwidth-intensive applications such as immersive video and bandwidth on demand.
• In 2009 Verizon extended its optical-mesh architecture into the Middle East. With recent mesh deployments in Mumbai and Chennai, India; Marseille, France; and Singapore, Verizon can seamlessly reroute traffic to alternate paths in the event of multiple breaks in undersea or land cables. With a stake in more than 80 submarine cable systems worldwide, Verizon was the first service provider to deploy undersea mesh technology - providing multiple diverse paths for voice and data traffic reliability - to connect major submarine cable systems traversing the Atlantic Ocean, with seven-way diversity. Verizon also deployed seven-way diversity on its Pacific Ocean submarine cable networks, enabling the company to more quickly reroute traffic in more directions to meet the needs of its customers worldwide. 
• Verizon continued to extend the benefits of converged packet architecture (CPA) by adding 16 sites in 2009. CPA converges all services, whether IP, data or voice, onto one common network-access interface, allowing customers to more easily and efficiently make network adaptations. CPA supports a full range of legacy and advanced services such as IP, Private IP, Ethernet, private line data, voice traffic, Ethernet Virtual Private Line and Virtual Private LAN Service, now available in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.

Domestic Investment Supports Service Innovation

At the five-year mark and currently passing 14.5 million homes in 16 states, Verizon's unique fiber-to-the-premises network continues to position the company as the hub for managing every phase of its customers' digital lives. Highlights include:

• In December, Verizon successfully field-tested fiber optic transmission over its FiOS network at 10G, or four times the currently deployed maximum capacity data stream. The XG-PON trial paves the way for simple expansion of the fiber network to meet future capacity challenges created by new services like 3-D TV.
• Verizon's fiber-to-the-home network is poised to reach a targeted 15 million premises by year end. Verizon had 3.3 million FiOS Internet and 2.7 million FiOS TV customers by the end of the third quarter. Now offering data speeds up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 20 Mbps upstream, the network as configured could handle up to 400 Mbps service.
• Verizon FiOS TV now delivers up to 138 HD video channels, up by more than a third during 2009, and has added more than 50 total channels since a year ago. The Widget Bazaar, introduced in July, offers the most dynamic set of on-screen TV widgets in the marketplace.
• The Verizon global wholesale team continues broad deployment of fiber-to-the-cell fiber backhaul service in support of Verizon Wireless and other wireless companies. Fiber backhaul is seen as key to supporting the massive bandwidth requirements of expanding 3G and developing 4G wireless data networks nationwide.
• With a total of 9.2 million High Speed Internet (HSI) and FiOS Internet customers through September, Verizon continues to support consumers with its reliable HSI DSL-based broadband service. The company added 161,000 new HSI lines in 2009 and made available its 7.1 megabit-per-second service to 450,000 additional customers.

The Nation's Largest and Most Reliable Wireless 3G Network

Verizon Wireless has the largest and most reliable wireless 3G network coverage area in the U.S., providing customers in more locations than any other wireless carrier with the ability to browse the Web faster for quick page-loading times, quick downloads for music and 3D games, streaming video, e-mails with attachments, video conferencing with contacts, and rapidly sharing files.

• In January, Verizon Wireless completed its acquisition of Alltel, expanding the company's network coverage to approximately 290 million people, nearly the entire U.S. population. Since then, Verizon Wireless has upgraded and integrated Alltel's 3G data network to the latest revision of wireless broadband technology to enable faster delivery of data applications, including e-mail and browsing the Internet.
• Verizon Wireless took steps toward the rollout of the nation's first 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network. Verizon Wireless' aggressive 4G LTE network build includes plans to launch in 25 to 30 markets in 2010 and cover virtually all its current nationwide 3G footprint with the next-generation network by the end of 2013.

About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 89 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 230,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $97 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.