Verizon Information Services Rolls Out First SuperPages Phonebooks Incorporating Print-to-Web :CueCat Access
Technology from Digital:Convergence Helps Latest Effort by Verizon to Help Small Businesses Succeed with their Internet Strategy

DALLAS, TEXAS, March 28, 2001 - As the beginning of a national rollout, Verizon Information Services, the world's largest directory publisher, today announced that one million SuperPages directories equipped with print-to-Web :CRQ^TM technology from Digital:Convergence Corporation have been distributed in the Greater Dallas area. The Greater Dallas directories are also the first to carry the new SuperPages brand reflecting Verizon's marrying of the print Yellow Pages with SuperPages.com, the leading online directory and shopping resource.

"Unlike larger corporations, most small businesses have limited resources to market themselves or their Web sites," said Pat Marshall, group vice president of marketing for Verizon Information Services. "Putting Digital:Convergence technology in our SuperPages creates a bridge from the printed page to the Web for phone book users. It also enables local advertisers to easily promote and drive traffic to their sites by helping consumers find them online."

The print-to-Web technology adopted by Verizon offers SuperPages advertisers the option to purchase a 'cue,' which resembles a bar code, to place within their advertisement. The cues are read with a free hand-held :CueCat^TM device using :CRQ software from Digital:Convergence, instantly linking consumers to the advertisers related Web site information. Consumers can pick up a :CueCat, along with the :CRQ software, at any RadioShack store nationwide. Verizon provides advertisers who purchase cues with free :CueCat devices and software.

"Our print-to-Web technology has become the benchmark in the industry, and this application clearly highlights its potential for expanding into new markets," said Jovan Philyaw, CEO of Digital:Convergence. "Take, for example, a local restaurant owner, who can help new and existing patrons find his Web site to get additional information, as well as promote his weekly or daily specials and online discounts."

According to the SuperPages.com 2nd Annual Small Business Internet Survey, recently conducted for Verizon by The Gallup Organization, 65 percent of small businesses describe the Internet as important to the future of their business, and an increasing number are creating their own Web sites.

"The re-branded SuperPages directories are part of Verizon's ongoing strategy to link the paper and digital worlds, and provide as many options as possible for connecting buyers and sellers. We want consumers to find the information they need, when and how they want to access it," said Marshall. "And we're helping small businesses advertisers by offering a cost-effective way to implement an Internet strategy, including bundling the building of a Web site, advertising in SuperPages and SuperPages.com, and now advertising with a cue."

Verizon is launching Digital:Convergence technology in an additional 49 Internet-enhanced directories over the next 24 months in Philadelphia, Providence, Tampa, Nassau County in New York, and Orange County South in California.

About Verizon Information Services and SuperPages.com
Verizon Information Services is a world leading print and online directory publisher and a content provider for communications products and services. The largest directory publisher in the world, Verizon has annual revenues of more than $4.1 billion and employs more than 11,000 people. The company provides sales, publishing and other related services for nearly 2,300 directory titles in 48 states and the District of Columbia and 17 countries outside the U.S. This includes more than 1,600 Verizon directory titles with a total circulation of approximately 110 million copies in the U.S. and 37 million copies internationally.

Verizon Information Services also produces and markets SuperPages.com, the Internet's preeminent online directory and shopping resource. SuperPages.com has received up to 7.7 million visits and 3.4 million unique visitors per month, and is the exclusive Yellow Pages provider on Excite, Lycos, AOL Service, AOL.com, Digital City, HotBot, and BigFoot.

Based in the Dallas area, Verizon Information Services is a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), which was formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. Verizon is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

About Digital:Convergence Corporation
Digital:Convergence Corporation is a privately held Internet technology company headquartered in Dallas with offices in New York and London. Working in conjunction with industry-leading partners such as Forbes magazine, Young & Rubicam Inc., Belo, and RadioShack Corporation, the company's proprietary technology can link almost all media or products instantly and easily with the Internet, allowing users to obtain relevant information or conduct e-commerce activities. The company's management team includes a roster of industry veterans from Time Warner, AT&T, GE, ING Barings and Disney. The company's :CueCat optical reader is a 2001 recipient of a laureate medal of honor from the Computerworld Honors Program, recognizing the device as an information technology innovation benefiting society.

Press Contacts:	DeAnna Causey Kriege Verizon 972-453-6509 deanna.kriege@verizon.com	Peter Eschbach Digital:Convergence 214-292-6200 peschbach@digitalconvergence.com
	Nicole Lowe Young & Associates 301-309-9404 nicolel@yapr.com	Meredith Groban Burson-Marsteller 212-614-4970 meredith_groban@nyc.bm.com