Verizon Wireless to Host Open Development Conference March 19-20, 2008 in New York...

Verizon Wireless to Host Open Development Conference March 19-20, 2008 in New
York City

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon
Wireless today announced that the company's much-anticipated Open Development
Conference will be held in New York City on March 19-20, 2008. The
announcement was made by Anthony A. Lewis, Verizon Wireless' newly-appointed
vice president of the Open Development initiative, during a panel discussion
today hosted by New America Foundation. Information about Verizon Wireless'
Open Development initiative is online at
www.verizonwireless.com/opendevelopment.
News of the conference, which will focus largely on development for new
devices to run on the award-winning Verizon Wireless network, comes just eight
weeks after Verizon Wireless announced that later this year it will provide
customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless
devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon
Wireless' Open Development initiative is driven by the company's desire to
encourage innovation, give customers wireless choices, and quickly address
opportunities to expand the wireless market. Higher data speeds and
throughput performance that will come with the rollout of its fourth
generation broadband network will open the door to a surge in new consumer
electronics enabled by wireless connectivity.
Verizon Wireless is structuring the conference for the development
community. The company encourages developers from the device community to
attend the two-day event, where they can learn about the technical standards
needed for devices to run on the Verizon Wireless network.
"This initial conference is for developers of devices -- because before
consumers can have open access, you have to have open development," said
Lewis. "In hosting this conference, our aim is to jump start the development
community by sharing information needed to develop devices for our network
that achieve our network performance goals while making it easy for them to
deliver devices."
Lewis also indicated that while the company is listening to a segment of
customers who want another choice without full service, Verizon Wireless will
continue to make available a full-service offering -- from retail stores where
customers can shop, to 24/7 customer service and technical support, to an
easy-to-use handset interface and optimized software applications.
For more information about Verizon Wireless' Open Development Conference,
visit www.verizonwireless.com/opendevelopment.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and
data network, serving 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless
company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon
Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees
nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications
(NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and 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.
SOURCE Verizon Wireless

Jeffrey Nelson of Verizon Wireless, +1-908-559-7519,
Jeffrey.Nelson@verizonwireless.com