LAS VEGAS —
, Jan. 8, 2004 — Later this month, Verizon Online high-speed Internet customers will be able to slam spam, vanquish viruses, wipe out worms, pulverize pop-up ads and power up their online protection with MSN® Premium, the premier all-in-one Web service offering from MSN, which became broadly available today.
All the advantages of MSN Premium continuous online protection, advanced communication tools, digital lifestyle management and rich information services will be given to current and new Verizon Online DSL customers at no additional charge.
“Through our business relationship with MSN, Verizon Online is able to deliver the most advanced broadband experience available by offering MSN Premium to our customers at no additional charge,”
said Judy Verses, senior vice president for Verizon Retail Markets Group.
“Today, we’re adding powerful online protection, advanced communication tools, cool video content and more personalization options to the mix of existing Verizon Online services that bring the Internet to life.”
“One of our goals at MSN is to help broadband customers be more efficient online,”
said Richard Bray, vice president for MSN at Microsoft Corp.
“MSN Premium delivers this by bringing the tools customers told us they need together in one place. We’re thrilled to work with Verizon to deliver tremendous value to its broadband customers in one convenient package that helps customers make the most of their broadband connection.”
MSN Premium was designed to meet the following Verizon Online DSL customers’ needs:
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Persistent protection with industry-leading technology to provide proven security solutions including these:
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Desktop anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware protection powered by McAfee® Security
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Multiple levels of junk e-mail filtering including Microsoft® SmartScreen Technology
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Smart pop-up management
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Better parental controls
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Comprehensive e-mail offerings for broadband homes with multiple users, with support for 11 e-mail accounts and 25 MB (megabytes) of storage for the primary customer and 10 MB for each additional account
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Advanced communication capabilities that provide e-mail management and creation tools, introduce innovative and seamless ways of sharing digital photos, enable customers to easily manage multiple e-mail accounts, and help customers jointly manage their work and personal information with the Microsoft Office Outlook® Connector
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Digital lifestyle management with information services and productivity applications such as a dynamic dashboard, Web logging capabilities, photo-editing and organization tools with MSN Photos Plus, personal finance tools with MSN Money Plus, and learning and resource tools from MSN Encarta® Premium
MSN Video, available through the MSN network at MSN.com, will bring Verizon Online customers free, high-quality streaming video news, sports and entertainment from content providers NBC, Showtime, Discovery, NHL.com and many others.
Current Verizon Online DSL customers can download MSN Premium at http://www.verizon.net/betterway/ when the service is launched later in January. New DSL customers will receive the service as part of their free, do-it-yourself DSL modem and CD installation kit.
Verizon Online and MSN History
On May 13, 2003, Verizon Online and MSN introduced a new co-branded DSL Internet access service — Verizon Online with MSN 8. At the same time, Verizon Online announced lower DSL prices of $34.95 a month for stand-alone service and $29.95 a month for DSL as part of a qualified Verizon local and long-distance bundle.
Verizon Online is a full-service Internet service provider, offering a complete selection of dial-up, DSL and dedicated Internet access services for residential consumers and businesses. By the end of 2003, approximately 80 percent of Verizon’s lines were capable of delivering DSL service.
About Verizon
A Fortune 10 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services, with approximately $67 billion in revenues. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 139 million access line equivalents and 36 million Verizon Wireless customers. Verizon is the third-largest long-distance carrier for U.S. consumers, with nearly 16 million long-distance lines. The company is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. Verizon’s international presence includes wireline and wireless communications operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/ .
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 350 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 38 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and ad sales to businesses worldwide. MSN 8 is the first Internet
software product to have earned the trusted Good Housekeeping Seal. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, MSN, Outlook and Encarta are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
VERIZON’S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts and other information are available at Verizon’s News Center on the World Wide Web at http://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.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.asp .
