Verizon Business is expanding its use of technology to help U.S. military personnel based in Iraq stay in touch with their families at home. The company, for the fifth consecutive year, is providing free calling for Iraq-based troops May 8-14 in honor of Mother's Day; June 12-18 for Father's Day; and July 2-8 for Independence Day. The calls home are made possible through a state-of-the-art Verizon Business mobile communications vehicle currently deployed in Iraq.

Face-to-Face Reunions

Verizon Business also is teaming with Cisco, Wal-Mart and the USO to provide free video connections between two bases in Iraq and two Wal-Mart stores. Verizon Business is providing the Internet protocol connections for Cisco's lifelike immersive video technology, known as Cisco TelePresence. Special Cisco TelePresence rooms are available at Wal-Mart stores located near Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Fort Drum, N.Y., between April 2 and July 6.

American consumers have a wide array of choices for personal communication services, but, when it comes to their home, an overwhelming majority -- including those who have a cell phone -- say they plan to keep and continue using their landline home phone indefinitely. Most often the service's proven reliability and safety were given as reasons in a new nationwide survey commissioned by Verizon.

The telephone survey, conducted by KRC Research last month, polled more than 800 consumers aged 18 and over who pay their landline phone bill. It found that:

• Eighty-three percent of the respondents intend to continue using their landline home phone indefinitely -- a strong vote of consumer confidence for landline voice service in a survey group that included a large number of participants who also have a cell phone (74 percent).
• Ninety-four percent of the respondents cited reliability and 91 percent cited safety as the key factors for retaining landline service.
• Seventy-six percent of landline phone owners use their landline phone every day.

Aastra announced that Verizon Business has certified Aastra’s award-winning line of 5xi SIP telephones based on the Session Initiation Protocol for use with its Hosted IP Centrex service offering. Adding Aastra’s SIP phones to Verizon Business’s portfolio of VoIP Customer Premises Equipment provides new and existing Verizon Business customers with greater flexibility and choice.

All of Aastra’s open standard SIP telephones underwent stringent lab testing required by Verizon Business to meet the high performance and reliability standards for products certified for its Hosted IP Centrex platform.

Pasadena City College students and faculty will be able to tap the power of converged VoIP communications and wireless Internet access under a two-year, $6.7 million agreement. Under the contract with the Pasadena Area Community College District, Verizon Business will install and manage a new campuswide network that will support the current and future needs of about 30,000 students and faculty. The pact also includes deployment of a premises-based VoIP platform, as well as on-site technical support, and managed and professional services. Additionally, Verizon Business will provide the student population with Wi-Fi access throughout the campus, which covers 53 acres and 30 buildings. Installation of the new converged IP network is under way.

Doing its part to help spread the love on Valentine's Day, Verizon Business is again providing free phone calls for U.S. Armed Forces personnel stationed in Iraq. The calls home are made possible through a state-of-the-art Verizon Business mobile communications vehicle currently deployed to Iraq. Verizon Business will make the facility available to military personnel on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, and during the entire week -- from Feb. 12 through 18.

"For our troops serving in Iraq, hearing the voice of a loved one on special days can go a long way to lift the spirits," said Susan Zeleniak, group president, Verizon Federal. "Verizon Business has made it a tradition to help the troops stay connected with their families and friends in appreciation for the sacrifices they make every day."

Verizon Business, as a leading communications provider to the federal government, makes technology, resources and employee support available throughout the year to military personnel and their families around the world.

Verizon Business is expanding its already extensive portfolio of managed network services that simplify the transition to Internet protocol communications.

Verizon Business now offers Managed IP PBX on the Nortel IP telephony platform, combining the reliability, flexibility and simplicity of Nortel's portfolio with Verizon Business' end-to-end network management, PBX expertise and advanced monitoring systems. This new managed IP PBX offering provides large-business and government customers another strong option for smoothly moving to an advanced and integrated IP-based communications system by simply adding a new server and updated software. The offering will be available to U.S.-based large-business and government customers next month.

In June 2006, Verizon brought a lawsuit against Vonage to enforce several Verizon patents relating to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

In March 2007, a jury held that Vonage is infringing three valid Verizon patents. The jury awarded $58 million in damages. The trial judge subsequently issued an injunction which was stayed pending Vonage's appeal.

In September 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the trial court's decisions on infringement, validity, and injunction as to two of the Verizon patents (the '574 and '711) and remanded as to the third patent (the '880). Vonage filed a petition for rehearing which is pending in the Court of Appeals.

Today the parties have agreed to resolve the patent lawsuit. The terms of the resolution depend on how the Court of Appeals decides Vonage's pending petition for rehearing regarding two of the Verizon patents (the '574 and '711). If Vonage wins rehearing on either the '574 or '711 patent or if the injunction is vacated as to the '574 or '711 patent, Vonage will pay Verizon $80 million. If Vonage does not win rehearing on either the '574 or '711 patent, or if the stay is lifted reinstating the injunction, Vonage will pay Verizon $117.5 million.

The parties are pleased to have resolved this matter.

Verizon received high marks from its customers to secure the spot as top wholesale VoIP provider, reflected in research by ATLANTIC-ACM, a leading telecommunications research consultancy and benchmarking firm. The company earned the top ranking in the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier category of the Best in Class Wholesale Metro products. The announcement was made Monday (Oct. 8) at the CompTel PLUS Fall 2007 Convention and EXPO in Grapevine, where ATLANTIC-ACM announced its 2007 Global Wholesale Carrier Excellence Awards.

The best in landline calling and wireless services are now combined for customers who choose the newest calling plan from Verizon. Beginning today, customers within Verizon's landline service area can bundle home and wireless calling in a simple package and get cool calling features and unlimited calling between their home and their Verizon Wireless phone - all on a single bill at prices starting at $59.99 a month.

Verizon Business is once again enhancing its already industry-leading suite of service level agreements for Private IP customers by extending its performance commitments for real-time applications, including VoIP and video, beyond the edge of Verizon Business' network all the way to customers' physical locations. Specifically, the company will offer extended jitter, packet delay and packet delivery ratio SLAs to the customer edge, including local access lines.

The new Customer Edge SLAs apply to U.S. and international locations and are available at no additional cost to U.S.-based managed or customer-managed Private IP customers, with availability planned for all Private IP customers by year-end. Verizon Business offers a credit of 20 percent of a customer's monthly recurring charges if any Customer Edge SLA is not met.