Major Increase in Call Volume Coincides with Return of Students

WOBURN, Mass., Sept. 21 -- Tens of thousands of college students have returned to Boston, unpacking their wireless phones and notebook modems in a hurry. Verizon Wireless today reported that the number of wireless calls made on or near Boston's colleges and universities sky-rocketed during student's first week back.

Verizon Wireless network technicians compared usage in college and university neighborhoods between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., on both Thursday, August 23rd and Thursday, September 6.

Cell sites near Boston College saw a nearly 380% increase in usage between the two dates.

Usage near Northeastern University climbed 280%. Cell sites serving Boston University experienced a 70% jump, while the sites serving Harvard University and MIT experienced 50% and 20% increases respectively. Overall, usage on the Verizon Wireless network across Boston has increased 20% since early August.

"A wireless phone is only as good as the network it runs on," commented director of Network System Performance for Verizon Wireless, Richard Enright. "From playoff sports events to concerts, and the marathon, Verizon Wireless plans and engineers for this type of capacity."

Verizon Wireless network technicians monitor and analyze cellular traffic 24-hours a day. Patterns are studied and used to optimize wireless networks and plan future expansion. Increased use of wireless data products and services, including notebook modems, wireless Internet and GPS navigation, are driving many investments in network capacity. More than 60% of Verizon Wireless' 62 million subscribers use data, including text messaging. The company's customers exchanged over 10 billion text messages in the month of June.

Verizon Wireless has spent $145 million during the first six months of the year to enhance wireless capacity and coverage throughout the six states of New England, elevating the cumulative network investment in the region to more than $2 billion since year 2000. Nationally the company invests more than $1 billion every 90 days to stay ahead of the growing demand for Verizon Wireless voice and data services. The company's ongoing network investment now totals more than $40 billion nationally over the past seven years.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 62.1 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and the largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, is headquartered in Basking Ridge, NJ with 67,000 employees nationwide. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: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.