Verizon Wireless Rings in the New Year with an Expansion of Its Broadband Wireless Network in Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY -- V CAST Consumer Multimedia Service and BroadbandAccess Wireless Internet Service Now Available in Salt Lake City

Continuing to build on its strategy to provide its customers superior wireless services, Verizon Wireless today announced the rollout of two award-winning services in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area -- one developed for the consumer market, the other primarily for business customers. V CAST, the nation's first 3G wireless broadband multimedia service for consumers, and BroadbandAccess, the first fully mobile wide-area wireless Internet access service launched in the nation, are now both available in Salt Lake City with service extending along the Wasatch Front from Ogden to Payson, including the Salt Lake City airport. Both services run on the company's high-speed EV-DO (Evolution Data-Optimized) wireless broadband network -- the largest high-speed wireless broadband network in the U.S.

"The expansion of our high-speed wireless broadband network provides Verizon Wireless customers in Salt Lake City with state-of-the-art mobile wireless technology," said Jeff Mango, regional president for Verizon Wireless. "With V CAST, consumers can access the latest in multimedia programming -- like music videos and current movie trailers -- to stay connected, informed and entertained via their wireless phones, and BroadbandAccess provides mobile workers full access to their corporate information, just as if they were attached via a high-speed wired connection, but with the freedom of true mobility."

V CAST

Verizon Wireless' V CAST service enables consumers to access short video content on-demand, viewing current news, weather, sports and entertainment programming. With V CAST, customers can also download and play cutting-edge 3D games, watch music videos and concert performances from favorite artists, view short video programs specifically designed for mobile phones and other video content from V CAST Showcase right on their phones. For a list of all videos and 3D game entertainment available on V CAST, visit www.getvcast.com.

For $15.00 monthly access added to their Verizon Wireless calling plan, customers in Salt Lake City can receive the V CAST VPak which includes unlimited access to a wide array of more than 300 daily updated video clips from leading news, sports, weather and entertainment content providers. Unlimited basic short content is included. There are no airtime charges to download, stream or watch V CAST content. Customers can also download, stream or watch premium short video content, available at additional cost, which includes music videos, select sports clips and other programming. Application download fees also apply for 3D games, premium video short content, and all other Get It Now(R) applications. Verizon Wireless V CAST customers also receive monthly access and unlimited browsing on Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web 2.0(SM) news and information service. For a limited time, customers who sign up for V CAST receive one month of service free.

BroadbandAccess

The company's highly recognized BroadbandAccess service, available to mobile professionals and enterprise customers, allows customers in Salt Lake City to connect wirelessly to the Internet via their laptop at broadband speeds, a convenient way to conduct business. BroadbandAccess enables customers to download a 1 Megabyte email attachment (for example, a small PowerPoint presentation or a large PDF file), or receive three digital pictures (each 400 x 600 pixels) in less than 20 seconds. Because EV-DO technology is backward compatible -- a distinct advantage to using CDMA technology -- customers who travel outside a BroadbandAccess coverage area with an EV-DO device will seamlessly switch to Verizon Wireless' existing NationalAccess service, which runs on the company's 1xRTT network.

"Services like BroadbandAccess are a great fit for Salt Lake City given the wide variety of business and tech-savvy users who live and work here," said Mango. "With BroadbandAccess, our wireless customers will be able to stay connected via a secure, reliable high-speed data connection."

Business customers, working with virtual private network (VPN) connections, can use BroadbandAccess as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet, allowing them to work from any location within the BroadbandAccess coverage area, as if they were in the office. BroadbandAccess, with typical user download speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second (kbps), is ideal for downloading files and business-critical information residing behind corporate firewalls and for accessing e-mail, intranets and the Internet. BroadbandAccess' EV-DO technology has its own data protection and authentication and is designed to work with a business' existing IT infrastructure and security solutions.

In an effort to bring the speed and mobility of Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess to more of its customers, Verizon Wireless has announced special pricing for its BroadbandAccess service -- current and new customers with any monthly voice plan can now get unlimited BroadbandAccess for $59.99 monthly access with a one- or two-year customer agreement. For non-voice customers, BroadbandAccess is available for $79.99 monthly access for unlimited use with a one- or two-year customer agreement. The pricing is available through March 31, 2006. For more information on BroadbandAccess from Verizon Wireless, visit www.verizonwireless.com/broadbandaccess.

EV-DO Network

V CAST and BroadbandAccess run on Verizon Wireless' 3G EV-DO network, which began commercial operation in October 2003 in San Diego and Washington, D.C. Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network initially made its commercial debut with BroadbandAccess wireless Internet access service for business customers and mobile professionals. The company launched its V CAST wireless broadband multimedia service in February 2005.

Today the EV-DO coverage area reaches 150 million Americans with service available in 180 major metropolitan areas. The company's expansion strategy for EV-DO coverage -- for V CAST and BroadbandAccess service -- includes adding new markets and expanding network coverage in existing markets.

In Utah, Verizon Wireless' EV-DO coverage area now includes the cities of Salt Lake City, Ogden, Layton, Magna, Sandy, West Jordan, Draper, Provo and Payson.

In the past three years, Verizon Wireless has invested more than $103 million in network enhancements in the state.

V CAST Phones and BroadbandAccess PC Cards

Customers can access V CAST on several hot new phones, including the new LG VX9800 phone. Featuring full-motion short content with audio streaming and downloading and playback capabilities, "The V" phone offers customers a rich and rewarding interactive experience. "The V" phone is available for $199.99 after a $100 on-line discount with a two-year customer agreement. V CAST customers can also check out the latest in news, entertainment, weather and sports on the sleek Motorola RAZR V3c phone, which is $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement. Many other V CAST capable handsets are available for as low as $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement.

Verizon Wireless offers an array of PDAs and PC Cards for BroadbandAccess customers, including the Kyocera KPC-650, the Novatel V620 and the PC 5740 cards. Verizon Wireless customers with unlimited use data plans can buy the BroadbandAccess Novatel V620 card for $149.99 or the PC 5740 card for $99.99 with a two-year customer agreement. The Kyocera KPC-650 air card is $179.99 with a two-year customer agreement.

For more information on V CAST or BroadbandAccess from Verizon Wireless, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. Business customers can contact a Verizon Wireless Business Sales Representative directly at 1-800-VZW-4-BIZ.

(EDITORS: Broadcast-quality B-roll footage featuring V CAST and BroadbandAccess is available online. Log on to www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia to preview and request video segments, which can be received in newsrooms digitally, by tape or via satellite.)

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: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.

NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: materially adverse changes in economic conditions in the markets served by us, an adverse change in the ratings afforded our debt securities or those of Verizon Communications by nationally accredited ratings organizations, the effects of the substantial competition that exists in our markets, which has been intensifying, and which may intensify further as a result of local number portability regulations that allow wireless customers to retain their phone numbers when switching wireless service providers, our ability to obtain sufficient financing to satisfy our substantial capital requirements, including to fund capital expenditures, debt repayment and distributions to our owners, our ability to obtain sufficient spectrum licenses, particularly in our most densely populated areas, our ability to develop future business opportunities, including wireless data services, and to continue to adapt to the changing conditions in the wireless industry, our ability to receive satisfactory service from our key vendors and suppliers, our ability to generate additional subscribers, with acceptable levels of churn, from resellers and distributors of our service, material changes in available technology, and technology substitution that could impact the popularity and usage of our technology, our continued provision of satisfactory service to our subscribers at an acceptable cost, in order to reduce churn, the impact of continued unionization efforts with respect to our employees, regulatory developments, including new regulations that could increase our cost of doing business or reduce demand for our services, developments in connection with existing or future litigation, and changes in our accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on earnings.