Verizon Receives the J.D. Power and Associates Business Data Service Award for Service to Small-Business Customers

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon small- and mid-sized business customers recognize and appreciate great service and say they get it from Verizon.

Verizon has earned top honors among six major providers in the J.D. Power and Associates’ annual study of small-, mid-size and large-business customers. The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Services StudySM cited Verizon for the “Highest Customer Satisfaction With Small/Midsize Business Data Service Providers.”

“This recognition by a respected industry study reinforces our customer-first commitment to the business marketplace,” said Monte Beck, vice president of small business marketing for Verizon. “By doing what we do best -- providing high-quality communications solutions for small businesses and by delivering excellent customer service - we help our customers focus on what they do best for their customers. They can leave their telecommunications worries to us.”

Verizon scored highest in six of the seven key performance factors used to measure satisfaction: performance and reliability, cost of service, company image, sales representatives/account executives, offerings and promotions, and customer service.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, Verizon is the top performer in overall satisfaction and also sets a study benchmark in offerings and promotions and company image. Verizon has consistently been a top performer in J.D. Power and Associates’ telecommunications studies since 2004.

For overall customer satisfaction, Verizon surged 25 index points from 2006, outperforming all the cable competitors included in the survey

“Verizon’s performance in this segment shows that a product set tailored to small businesses, delivered over a network designed specifically for voice and data, is delivering what customers want,” Beck said, “and it also shows that cable’s insurgency into the small-business category may be generating somewhat less than optimal results. That we performed so well in the study should resonate with small-business proprietors and operators who rely on good telecommunications support across the board.”

Verizon was rated well for offering a single point of contact, which is important to small businesses where effective service from a single contact increases satisfaction and creates loyalty. Verizon also scored better than the industry average in terms of customers likely to switch away from the company. Ninety-one percent of Verizon customers said they would probably or definitely not switch.

Beck said Verizon’s long history in supporting small businesses made Verizon better at meeting business needs than the cable challenger.

The study was conducted in January 2007. It reflects the views of 2,855 business customers with telecommunication services at small/midsize and large enterprise businesses in the United States, and measures their evaluation of their data and voice service providers.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, serving 60.7 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation’s most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.