Verizon Wireless' Northern California/Nevada Network Ready to Hit One out of the Park This Baseball Season; Ongoing Network Enhancements Get Nation's Most Reliable Wireless Network in Game Shape for Opening Day.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- With baseball's opening day right around the corner, Oakland A's fans headed to McAfee Coliseum can rely on the Verizon Wireless network to talk and TXT to friends and family to share in the excitement of game day.

Since its launch six years ago, Verizon Wireless has invested $30 billion -- on average $5 billion every year -- to increase the coverage and capacity of its national network and to add new capabilities. More than $740 million of this investment was spent in California to maintain and enhance the network. As part of this investment, Verizon Wireless recently added additional carriers to nearby cell sites serving the Coliseum, increasing network coverage and capacity throughout the area.

In addition, the largest high speed broadband network is available to Verizon Wireless customers with VCAST services at the Oakland McAfee Coliseum to enjoy video clips, browse the web, download full-track songs and listen to them at their leisure.

Verizon Wireless also deploys a coast-to-coast fleet of test vehicles managed by Verizon Wireless engineers who continuously test the network and identify areas for improvement. The engineers conduct almost four million calls annually on the Verizon Wireless network and other national wireless carriers' networks while traveling more than 100,000 miles of the most frequently traveled roadways nationwide each month in specially equipped company test vehicles.

These ongoing network enhancements improve Verizon Wireless' digital capacity in and around Oakland's McAfee Coliseum, enabling more customers heading to the games to use their wireless phones concurrently. The improvements also enable Northern California baseball fans to experience fewer dropped calls while talking on their wireless phones, send TXT and Picture Messages, view streaming video clips or download games and ring tones before, during and after the games.

For more information on Verizon Wireless, please visit www.verizonwireless.com.

Test Man/Woman Ride-Along Program

Specially equipped Verizon Wireless test vehicles simultaneously test seven wireless providers, using a computerized program to generate phonically diverse "conversations," as well as data transmissions. Members of the media who are interested in setting up an interview ride-along with a local member of the Verizon Wireless team of real-life test men and women, are invited to contact Heidi Flato at 925-279-6545.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 51.3 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, N.J., Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD) (LSE:VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request 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.