First-Time Home Buyers in Florida's Hidden Creek Development Will Enjoy First-Rate...

First-Time Home Buyers in Florida's Hidden Creek Development Will Enjoy
First-Rate FiOS Services

Verizon Will Provide Fiber-Based Internet, TV and Voice Services for 141
Households in Wimauma; New Homeowners to Participate in Florida Home
Partnership's Self-Help Housing Program

TAMPA, Fla., July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweat equity has never looked better, or
been more aptly phrased, for 141 potential new homeowners in the Hidden Creek
subdivision in Wimauma. Not only will their labor to help build their first
homes provide the down payments, it will also enable them to obtain Verizon
FiOS services and experience the fastest Internet connection speeds and
extraordinary TV picture quality in their new homes.

Under an agreement between Verizon and the Florida Home Partnership, a
Florida-certified not-for-profit home builder, Verizon will deliver
industry-leading telecommunications services over its all-fiber network for
these first-time homeowners with modest incomes.

"People who have had long-standing hopes of owning a home will realize their
dreams with Florida Home Partnership," said Eric Cevis, vice president of
Verizon Enhanced Communities, the company's business organization that markets
and sells communications and entertainment services to single- and
multiple-home properties.

"Better still, their new home-owning experience will be enhanced by the most
advanced network for voice, data and TV services available in the market today
-- FiOS services. Whether supporting high-speed access to academic resources
for kids, or stunningly clear HD picture quality for parents, FiOS creates a
great home environment for all homeowners," said Cevis. "Simply put, it
matters which network is connected to your TV, computer and phone -- and
nothing is better than FiOS."

Since the end of 2005, Verizon Enhanced Communities has aggressively pursued
agreements with property owners to bring FiOS to their properties. To date,
VEC has entered agreements with developers and contractors for new
developments under construction covering 4000,000 private households and is
offering FiOS to 750,000 apartment units across 16 states where the company is
currently building its all-fiber network.

Florida Home Partnership Inc. provides affordable housing opportunities
through the USDA Mutual Self-Help Housing Program. It is the largest builder
in this program east of the Mississippi River. Self-Help Housing, also known
as "sweat-equity housing," allows first-time homebuyers to exchange 600 hours
of unskilled and semi-skilled labor for a down payment on their home. Founded
in 1993, Florida Home Partnership, formerly known as Homes for Hillsborough,
has helped hundreds of clients who meet program eligibility build their own
homes through the mutual self-help method.

"Our families work hard building their houses and work even harder to create a
home once they move in," said Earl Pfeiffer, executive director, Florida Home
Partnership. "It is our hope that this initiative will help them go to the
front of the line for the best available home communications and broadband
entertainment services and give them an edge on developing a highly
functional, productive and enjoyable home life."

Verizon is the only major telecom company whose network has earned the
certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber
all the way to customers' homes.

Verizon FiOS can deliver Internet access with maximum downstream connection
speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second)* and upload speeds of up to 20
Mbps over the nation's most advanced digital, all-fiber-optic network. At 50
Mbps, downloading a 1.2 GB (gigabyte), or 90-minute, standard-definition movie
takes approximately 3.2 minutes. Upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps make modern
video and file-sharing a snap over the nation's only large-scale fiber-optic
network that extends all the way to customers' homes or small- and
medium-sized businesses. Using a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a
person could upload a 250 megabyte (MB) file or a 3,500 page document in about
90 seconds, compared with about 47 minutes over a 768 kilobits per second
(kbps) upstream connection.

Verizon's fiber-optic network also delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound
with FiOS TV, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition
programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen.
Verizon's FiOS TV service offers a broad collection of all-digital
programming, with more than 400 total channels and 10,000 video-on-demand
titles per month, 70 percent of which are free. The VOD library also includes
an increasing number of HD titles, with 1,000 HD VOD titles per month by
year-end.

Verizon Enhanced Communities received the Cornerstone Award from Broadband
Properties Magazine acknowledging the organization for outfitting a 300-unit,
eight-building JPI residential community with Verizon's FiOS all-fiber-optic
network services in just 14 days. For more information about the products and
services available through Verizon Enhanced Communities, visit
www.verizon.com/communities.

For more information on Florida Home Partnership, visit
www.flhome.org/index.html.

*Note: Actual (throughput) speeds will vary based on factors including
computer configuration and network/Internet congestion.

About Florida Home Partnership Inc.
Florida Home Partnership offers affordable homeownership opportunities to low-
and moderate-income first-time homebuyers through the USDA Mutual Self-Help
Housing Program. This program began over 40 years ago, and mirrors the
"barnraisings" of the Quakers -- with neighbors helping neighbors. The
Self-Help Housing program allows individuals to contribute labor, or "sweat
equity," to the construction of a new home in exchange for the down payment.
No construction experience is necessary. This program is ideal for those
desiring homeownership but have limited resources. Florida Home Partnership
is currently building in Hillsborough County and will be expanding the program
into Pasco County within the year.

About Verizon
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 69 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 228,600 and last year
generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more
information, visit www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and
biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other
information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at
www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News
Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news
releases.

SOURCE Verizon

Bob Elek, +1-813-483-2541, bob.elek@verizon.com, Verizon or Earl Pfeiffer,
+1-813-672-7860, ext. 242, or earl@flhome.org, Florida Home Partnership Inc.