Verizon Expands Capacity of Switching Center To Better Serve St. Johnsbury, Vt. Customers

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Verizon has invested $1.3 million to upgrade and expand the capacity of equipment in the company's telephone office in St. Johnsbury. The building houses a digital switch, a state-of-the-art computer that routes calls to their destinations, and other advanced telecommunications equipment.

The project, completed in February, will provide more capacity for processing voice and data communications. Surfing the Internet has changed the way customers use their telephones, increasing the average length of a call, which in turn requires more switching capacity.

Verizon serves about 8,000 phone lines from its St. Johnsbury telephone office.

"We recognize the growing importance of an advanced telecommunications network for Vermont businesses, schools, libraries and consumers," said Louise McCarren, president of Verizon Vermont. "We're aggressively investing in our infrastructure while lowering prices for many of our services."

In recent months, Verizon lowered dial-tone rates for residence and business customers, and reduced in-state, long-distance rates throughout the state.

In Vermont last year, Verizon invested more than $65 million in its telecommunications network serving the state, including the addition of more than 1,500 miles of fiber-optic cable. The company has over 61,000 miles of fiber-optic cable in its Vermont network overall - enough to circle the earth more than twice. Fiber-optic systems use laser-generated light pulses and digital technology to provide greater capacity, higher transmission speeds and better quality for voice, video and data transmitted over the network.

Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 132.1 million access line equivalents and 29.4 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. With more than $67 billion in annual revenues and approximately 247,000 employees, Verizon's global presence extends to more than 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.