At Verizon, D.C. Means 'Deep Commitment' in the Nation's Capital

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers, businesses and government agencies in the District of Columbia continued to benefit from Verizon's 2014 investment of more than $92 million in its industry-leading fiber-optic and wireline networks. 

In addition, Verizon Wireless invested $537 million in 2014 on network upgrades and expansions in the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia region. 

"As customers' technology needs grow more sophisticated each day, Verizon – with its strong networks and assets in the District of Columbia – is uniquely positioned to meet those needs," said Christopher D. Childs, president of wireline network operations for Verizon's Mid-Atlantic South region. "Whether it's voice, broadband or TV for the home or services to grow a business, Verizon is prepared to meet the unique needs of our customers. Our networks will help keep the District competitive nationally and globally – enabling the city to grow existing jobs and attract new ones."

Fiber-optic networks strengthen communities, and last year Verizon continued deployment of its 100 percent fiber-optic network, with its FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services. By the end of 2014, FiOS services were available to nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in the District. Verizon also placed over 3.7 million feet (or 715 miles) of fiber optics in D.C. That's like scaling the Washington Monument almost 7,000 times.

Verizon's major wireline infrastructure programs in 2014 included:

The Fastest, Most Reliable Internet Service Got Even Better in 2014

• Significantly raising the bandwidth bar with FiOS Quantum Internet.
  • SpeedMatch, offering upload speeds that match download speeds at no additional cost, was one way Verizon said thank you to many of its FiOS customers. FiOS Quantum Internet upload speeds rival or exceed most download speeds offered by competitors. The ultrafast speed delivers technology that gives people the best way to upload photos and videos, send or back up files, conduct video chats and use multiple Internet devices simultaneously, among other bandwidth-intensive applications.
  • FiOS Quantum Gateway Router, which provides small businesses and consumers the fastest Wi-Fi available from any provider, with guest Wi-Fi and enhanced parental controls.

No More DVR Battles, and TV Went Everywhere

• FiOS Custom TV allows customers to choose the types of channels they want without paying for those they don't – an industry first.
• FiOS Quantum TV gives customers more choices and control than ever before, including the ability to record up to 12 shows at once; pause and rewind live TV on any TV in the home; and store up to 200 hours of HD programs.
• The FiOS Mobile App offers 168 in-home channels, 88 out-of-home channels and 70,000 on-demand content features over select broadband-connected tablets or smartphones.
• FiOS TV Everywhere offers 89 channels over a broadband-connected PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
• FiOS TV's advanced, interactive search and navigation was upgraded to make it even easier for customers to find and enjoy what they want to watch.
• FiOS TV features the most video on demand, with 100,000-plus FiOS On Demand video titles to rent or own, plus premium on-demand content packages with sports, movie and international programming.

Investing in Superior Customer Experiences

• Verizon has improved phone service reliability for more than 800,000 customers nationally by moving their service from copper to the company's advanced, all-fiber infrastructure. Fiber is less susceptible than copper to moisture and water damage and offers a better overall service experience. Nationwide, Verizon now serves more landline customers on its all-fiber infrastructure than on its legacy copper network.
• Verizon expects to completely fiberize the city by 2019.
• The company has launched a number of customer-experience management tools to provide an even better experience for its residential and small-business customers, ranging from a tech notification tool, which keeps customers updated on when a Verizon technician will arrive prior to the scheduled appointment; to mobile coach, which enables supervisors to work with reps in real time to better serve customers. These tools were developed with direct input from employees who use them daily.
• Customers can take advantage of Verizon's In-Home Agent application for automated self-service.

Thank You for Making Us No. 1 (Again)

Customers ranked Verizon Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Very Small Business Wireline Service in the "J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Business Wireline Satisfaction Study." And for the second straight year, FiOS Internet was rated No. 1 in the 2014 American Customer Satisfaction Index. In addition, customers made Verizon FiOS Internet the recipient of PC Magazine's Readers' Choice Award for the ninth consecutive year.

Providing End-to-End Solutions for Video Customers

Verizon has combined powerful assets to further the company's delivery of media and entertainment services through its Verizon Digital Media Services business unit.

With its next-generation platform and global content delivery network, Verizon Digital Media Services delivers end-to-end video solutions for best-in-class TV Everywhere and superior experiences to any device, anywhere, at any time. The interplay of assets seamlessly orchestrated among a secure media cloud, an agile video backbone and responsive intelligent edges delivers flexible and robust video solutions.

Enterprise Business Solutions Tailored to Meet Client Needs

Verizon Enterprise Solutions oversees all of Verizon's solutions for large-business, wholesale and government customers in Virginia and globally, including a portfolio of cloud and IT, enterprise mobility, security and advanced communications offerings. Its key client segments include healthcare, manufacturing and automotive, financial services and large government agencies. In 2014, Verizon:

• Unveiled the Verizon Cyber Intelligence Center, which offers global client organizations advanced detection and response capabilities to better manage and mitigate cyberthreats.
• Expanded its Verizon Financial Network to more than 50 new markets, services and data centers in Europe and North America to give trading firms and other financial institutions secure and on-demand access to markets and applications, in addition to increased flexibility and scalability.
• Converted five Verizon data centers that provide enterprise-class colocation services to carrier-neutral facilities, including locations in Boston; Denver; Elmsford, New York; Manassas, Virginia; and Seattle.
• Invested heavily in its cloud and networking services:
  • Released a new service model and a set of features and functionality for the company's cloud infrastructure and storage platform. Verizon Cloud now includes a variety of services tiers, onboarding and workload migration services, and several deployment options ranging from public cloud to private, on-premises cloud. Additionally, Verizon Cloud opened a Marketplace where enterprises can buy software-based IT services to run on top of Verizon's cloud infrastructure.
  • Launched Secure Cloud Interconnect service so that enterprises can use multiple clouds at once via Verizon's Private IP networking, including the Verizon Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, HP Helion Managed Cloud Service, the Salesforce Customer Success Platform and Google Cloud Interconnect.
  • Received an Authority to Operate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), paving the way for U.S. government agencies to easily and securely migrate mission-critical workloads to the cloud.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 108.6 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. A Dow 30 company with more than $127 billion in 2014 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 176,200. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/news/.

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SOURCE Verizon

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