Verizon Enhances Parental Control Resource Center for TV, Wireless and Online Services

Web Site Offers Parents Links to Tools, Information

WASHINGTON - To help them manage their children’s digital experiences, Verizon is making it easier for parents to find and access the online parental controls and resources for customers of the company’s online, FiOS TV and wireless services.

The enhanced Web site, www.verizon.net/parentalcontrol, gives parents using Verizon Wireless, Verizon FiOS TV and any of Verizon’s high-speed Internet services, the ability to link to online tools for managing those services. To help parents make decisions about their families’ wireless, TV and online use, the site also offers links to resources including video tutorials, usage tips, expert Web sites and other information.

“Customers want the ability to manage their own communications and entertainment experiences - whether online, with TV and mobile,” said Kathryn C. Brown, Verizon’s senior vice president for public policy development and corporate responsibility. “Verizon has long been committed to Internet safety, and putting these important tools in one convenient location is another step in making it easier for our customers to make the best choices for their own families.”

Links available to Verizon customers through the new Parental Control Web page include:

* Verizon Wireless content filters that allow parents to block materials that may be inappropriate for their children. The filters use a familiar, age-based system including C7+ content for children 7 and older; T13+ content for children 13 and older; and YA17+ content for ages 17 and older.

* Verizon FiOS TV parental controls that allow parents to block specific channels; hide information for adult-rated content in TV listings; and allow parents to create a four-digit pin to manage what can and cannot be watched.

* Verizon Online parental controls that allow parents to block specific topics; limit access to applications they do not want their children to see; and designate specific times when the Internet or certain functions cannot be used.

The enhanced Parental Control Web site was one of the many items discussed Thursday (Dec. 11) by Verizon’s Jack McArtney, associate director of marketing, at the Family Online Safety Institute’s (FOSI) annual conference. The institute was to cite McArtney for his commitment to online safety, presenting him the FOSI Award for Outstanding Achievement. McArtney was to be one of eight people to receive the award, which honors individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to advancing the goal of a safer Internet.

Verizon is engaged in Internet safety on multiple fronts, providing customers with an industry-leading slate of online cyber-security tools and education programs to empower educators, parents and children. Verizon also works closely with law enforcement to assist with investigations involving crimes against children, and with partners such as I-SAFE to deliver tools and information to various segments of the community. Verizon has also long been a supporter of efforts to encourage content providers to voluntarily label their Web sites; raise parental awareness of the benefits of labeling; and educate decision makers about the desirability of self-regulation of online content.

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 nearly 71 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 employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.