Verizon Business Wins Metro Ethernet Forum European Service Innovation Award

Accolade Recognizes Leadership, Coverage and Market Success

BERLIN, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Business is the winner of the Metro
Ethernet Forum's 2009 European Carrier Ethernet Service Provider of the Year
Award for Service Innovation. Verizon Business won on the strength of the
company's industry-leading Ethernet portfolio, its robust European geographic
coverage and innovative service offers.

The MEF Service Provider of the Year Awards recognize excellence and
leadership in the development, marketing and delivery of carrier Ethernet
business services. The Service Innovation Award is granted to the service
provider that, in the opinion of the judges, has introduced the most
innovative offering to the European market, with demonstrable market success
across an extensive geography.

Verizon Business' award recognizes, among other areas, the ongoing increase in
geographic availability of the company's Ethernet services including Verizon
Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) and
Ethernet Private Line (EPL). In addition, Verizon Business has significantly
expanded its Ethernet Access network capabilities in Europe, the Middle East
and Africa as part of an ongoing global network expansion program, and also
launched support for 10-gigabit Ethernet speeds in London and Paris with its
Storage Private Line product -- a variation on the company's Ethernet Private
Line product.

The company has enhanced its off-net Ethernet capabilities by continuing to
expand partnerships with third-party carriers to support its global customers.
Verizon Business has now established partnerships with more than 100 carriers,
with multiple certified third-party carrier options available in each country.

In addition, the company has introduced a new provisioning architecture, which
helps speed the delivery of new services to customers. Verizon Business'
continual development of new Ethernet products ensures a broad Ethernet
product portfolio to fit specific customer needs.

Verizon Business accepted its 2009 European Service Innovation Award on Sept.
22 at the 4th Annual Carrier Ethernet World Congress conference event in
Berlin. The award is the latest in a string of accolades for the company's
Ethernet portfolio. Verizon Business received the MEF's 2008 European Service
Provider of the Year award, and Verizon was named the MEF's 2008 Best in
Business Provider for North America -- both of which give testament to the
company's growing leadership in the global Ethernet space.

Mike Volgende, Verizon director of global Ethernet services, said: "This award
is important to us because it recognizes our ongoing commitment to innovation
and the investments we are making in international markets including Europe,
the Middle East and Africa. Our multinational customers are increasingly
choosing Ethernet as the solution for their global networking requirements.
Ethernet enables business applications to be quickly and simply delivered and
managed across a wide area network, and is therefore a great solution for
companies wanting to enhance application availability across global office
locations. We're delighted to be recognized by the Metro Ethernet Forum as the
European Service Innovator of the Year, and look forward to maintaining our
leadership position over the coming years."

In commenting on the awards, Nan Chen, president of the MEF, stated:
"Congratulations to Verizon Business for winning the MEF's European service
innovation award. This is true testament to how important Carrier Ethernet
service offerings have become to the world's leading service providers, and
the ongoing strengths of the company's solutions."

Verizon's award-winning portfolio of Ethernet services includes:

-- Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) in the U.S., six Asia-Pacific
countries and 16 European countries (with plans to expand coverage to
Canada and additional countries in Asia and Europe this year).
-- Ethernet Private Line (EPL) in the U.S. and 20 European countries,
with
metro, national and international connections to and from the U.S.
-- Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) in the U.S. (with plans to expand
coverage to Europe and Asia-Pacific this year).
-- Ethernet Access to Private IP in the U.S., 21 European countries, 13
Asia-Pacific countries, nine Latin American countries and Canada.

-- Ethernet Access to the public Internet in the U.S., Europe, Asia
Pacific, Latin America and Canada.

The Metro Ethernet Forum's award winners were selected by a judging panel
chosen from key industry analysts covering this sector in Europe. Submitted
entries are evaluated anonymously, and the names of the winning providers are
not revealed to the MEF until the judging process has been completed.

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global
leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise
with one of the world's most connected IP networks to deliver award-winning
communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely
connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers,
partners, suppliers and employees - enabling them to increase productivity and
efficiency and help preserve the environment. Many of the world's largest
businesses and governments - including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and
thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our
professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their
business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

SOURCE Verizon Business

Clare Ward, +44(0)118-905-3501, clare.ward@uk.verizonbusiness.com, or Maria
Montengro, +1-703-886-6063, maria.montenegro@verizon.com, both of Verizon