Verizon's Round-the-Clock Restoral Continues for Sandy-Stricken New Jersey, New York Customers

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Verizon continues its comprehensive effort to reconnect consumers, businesses and government clients in New Jersey, Long Island and the New York City metropolitan area, as wireline technicians from Virginia to Massachusetts join local Verizon crews in replacing several thousand broken poles and downed cables in those two areas after Hurricane Sandy. 

Restoration and Redeployment:

• Verizon employees continue to restore voice, data, Internet and TV service to thousands of customers daily. 
• Verizon continues to redeploy technicians and equipment to New Jersey, Long Island and the New York City area to hasten restoral as commercial power is restored and Verizon crews can access Sandy-damaged facilities for the first time.  Verizon is augmenting its repair force in these two areas, drawing more than 1,200 employees from Maryland, Massachusetts, upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  
• The company has extended call-center hours and employee work shifts to better meet customers' service needs.
• Verizon continues to coordinate with commercial power companies and local authorities to resolve restoral challenges caused by downed power lines, trees and other debris.  The company has offered to assist power companies in the affected areas on common issues like placing new poles.
• Even as power is restored to key facilities and customers' homes or businesses, Verizon may need to repair or replace damaged equipment – such as flooded electronics in switching offices, and broken poles and downed lines in neighborhoods – to bring back service for customers. 
• (NOTE: To view or embed videos of Verizon's restoral and community outreach efforts after Sandy, visit the video catalog at http://vz.to/sandyvideos.)

Customer Repairs, Replacements and Care:

• Verizon will provide credits for landline customers who have reported an out-of-service condition related to Hurricane Sandy. 
• Customers may suspend their Verizon landline services free of charge if they're currently unable to live in their home or operate their small business as a result of Sandy.
• Verizon technical support will help customers determine if their equipment such as set-top boxes or home broadband routers is operable or needs replacement.  Troubleshooting tips are also available for customers at www.verizon.com/outage.
• The company will repair or replace any consumer or small business Verizon equipment damaged by Sandy, without charge.  This includes FiOS set-top boxes, FiOS broadband routers, optical network terminals and High Speed Internet (DSL) broadband routers.

Supporting Emergency Responders, Communities:

• Many Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless stores in the region are open to people without power who need to charge their wireless devices.  To find a nearby store, click here.  People should bring their own device chargers and call a store first to ensure it's open.  Verizon Wireless also has staged eight mobile device charging stations in the affected area. An updated listing of locations and services can be found here.
• Verizon has deployed several units in its emergency fleet of vehicles and self-contained emergency inflatable-air shelters to locations in Long Beach, Queens and Staten Island in New York, and Hazlet, Hoboken and Ortley Beach in New Jersey.  These mobile stations provide organizations with communications, Internet and video capabilities in particularly hard-hit areas where such services may not currently be available.  In addition, the Verizon vehicle at 92-24 Rockaway Beach in Queens is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for free calls, device charging and Internet access.
• To support Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, Verizon Wireless customers and the Verizon Foundation have pledged more than $3.8 million to the American Red Cross and other organizations aiding in Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.  Customers can still make a $10 donation by texting REDCROSS to 90999, and those who would like to give more can donate up to $50 via text.   In addition, Verizon employees have donated nearly $535,000 to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army to date through the Verizon Foundation's matching gifts program; the foundation will match those donations two-for-one.  For more on the Verizon Foundation's Sandy support, click here.

Customers can contact Verizon online at www.verizon.com/outage to report any wireline service-related issues; or call 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966).  Please note that hold times will be longer than normal due to higher calling volumes.  For prior Hurricane Sandy updates, click here.

For more information on Verizon Wireless efforts related to Hurricane Sandy, visit the Emergency Information Center. 

Verizon Enterprise Solutions updates are available at www.verizonbusiness.com/info/hurricane.

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 nearly 96 million retail customers 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 in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 184,500.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon