Verizon Business to Open Dubai Office to Further Strengthen Middle East Presence

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Regional Base in Dubai Internet City Enhances Customer Service and Support Capabilities

Verizon Business plans to open an office in Dubai Internet City (DIC) to further strengthen the company's service and support capabilities across the Middle East. The office, to be opened next month, will provide a local contact in the same regional time zone for Verizon Business' multinational customers with operations in the Middle East, as well as a base for the company's ongoing regional expansion plans.

The office was officially announced at a meeting between DIC and Verizon on May 1st in DIC. Verizon Business was represented by Blair Crump, group president international and premier accounts, and Ihab Tarazi, vice president of global network planning. DIC was represented by Malek Al Malek, executive director, and Majed Alsuwaidi, director of sales of Dubai Internet City.

Many Verizon Business customers and partners already have operations within Dubai Internet City, an information technology park created by the government of Dubai as a free economic zone. Widely viewed as a strategic base for companies operating in the high-growth economies of the Middle East and North Africa region and beyond, DIC is the region's largest cluster of information, communications and technology enterprises.

Al Malek said: "Dubai Internet City has attracted the biggest names in the IT industry over the years, and it gives us great pleasure to welcome yet another global leader in Verizon, a Dow 30 company with revenues last year of more than US$90 billion. This will open new horizons for the region to attract even more business interest. DIC takes pride in providing our business partners with a managed service facility and looks forward to cooperating with Verizon Business and forging stronger business partnerships in the near future."

Verizon Business is a global IP leader and network-based partner for delivering integrated communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large-business and government customers worldwide. The company's robust communications and computing platform is built on Verizon Business' advanced local-to-global IP network, which spans more than 485,000 route miles in more than 2,700 cities across 150 countries.

Verizon Business is well-established in the Middle East, supporting the needs of its multinational customers with presence in the region through a mix of local partnerships, network infrastructure, professional services and customer support capabilities. Verizon Business customers in the Middle East and North Africa region already benefit from dedicated MPLS connectivity to the Verizon global Private IP network from Egypt, Kuwait, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, with further expansion into Pakistan planned for late 2008. Verizon Business provides a wide range of professional services capabilities in the region -- including hosting, security and professional services -- and is currently engaged in major projects across the Middle East.

Verizon Business also services the region through its investment in the SEA-ME-WE4 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe) submarine cable network, which spans 20,000 kilometers and links Asia, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and Europe.

"The Middle East is a key investment location for many of our multinational customers, and we are seeing significant investment in communication infrastructure across the region to support further growth," commented Crump. "We are continuing to invest in infrastructure, solutions and service capabilities in the Middle East and around the world to better service the evolving voice and data needs of our multinational customers. This new office within the DIC complex will enhance our on-the-ground service capabilities to help our customers achieve their business goals."

About Dubai Internet City

Dubai Internet City (DIC), a member of TECOM Investments, is the Middle East's largest information and communications technology (ICT) cluster. Built as a strategic base for companies targeting emerging markets in several neighbouring regions, DIC's core focus area extends from the Middle East to the Indian Subcontinent, and from Africa to the CIS countries, covering two billion people with a GDP of US$6.7 trillion. As a knowledge-oriented business model, DIC has created a dynamic international community of IT companies hosting business partners that include most of the Fortune 500 brands like Cisco, DELL, Intel and IBM as well as a number of small and medium enterprises and ventures. In 2007, DIC witnessed 33 per cent growth, drawing 112 new companies to the cluster, including Google, Lawson E3 and others.

For more information, please visit: www.dubaiinternetcity.com

About Verizon Business

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global IP leader and network-based partner for delivering integrated communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large-business and government customers worldwide. Combining unsurpassed reach with managed services, security, mobility, collaboration and professional services capabilities, Verizon Business delivers global solutions that power innovation and enable its customers to do business better. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com .

Web site: http://www.verizonbusiness.com http://www.dubaiinternetcity.com