MCIP Mci (MM)

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved the Verizon Communications Inc. merger with MCI, Inc. Both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission have approved the acquisition after concluding it advances the public interest. Pennsylvania was one of two states with an approval still pending (Washington remains) prior to today's PUC action. The following statement should be attributed to James V. O'Rourke, president and CEO of Verizon Pennsylvania. "We appreciate the commission's action, which is another step toward bringing the benefits of this merger to Pennsylvania's consumers and businesses. The commission has rightly concluded what regulators across the country, as well as the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice, also have found - that this merger is in the public interest." The following statement should be attributed to Marsha Ward, vice president-state regulatory affairs at MCI. "The Verizon-MCI combination will capitalize on the complementary strengths of each company and create one of the world's leading providers of communications services, offering global reach, a full suite of IP-based and value-added services, delivery of next-generation services and a broader product portfolio." Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other communication innovations to wireline and wireless customers. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 49.3 million customers nationwide, and one of the nation's premier wireline networks, serving home, business and wholesale customers in 28 states. Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of nearly 215,000 and generates annual revenues of more than $71 billion from four business segments: Domestic Telecom, Domestic Wireless, Information Services and International. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/. MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCIP) is a leading global communications provider, delivering innovative, cost-effective, advanced communications connectivity to businesses, governments and consumers. With one of the most expansive global IP backbones and wholly-owned data networks, MCI develops the converged communications products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications in today's market. For more information, go to http://www.mci.com/. VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high quality video and images, 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: This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: a significant change in the timing of, or the imposition of any government conditions to, the closing of the transaction; actual and contingent liabilities; and the extent and timing of our ability to obtain revenue enhancements and cost savings following the transaction. Additional factors that may affect the future results of Verizon and MCI are set forth in their respective filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at investor.verizon.com/SEC/ and http://www.mci.com/about/investor_relations/sec/. DATASOURCE: Verizon CONTACT: For Verizon: Lee Gierczynski, +1-412-633-5574, , or Sharon Shaffer, +1-215-963-6200, ; For MCI: Maria Montenegro, +1-703-886-6063, Web site: http://www.verizon.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

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