A Quarter Takes You To Denmark Or Dominican Republic (NAPSA)—Just one quarter will now take you more than a quarter with 25 cents in coins. An addi- ft tional one dollar in coins will buy one to 10 minutes depending on of the way around the world. For 25 cents, callers in 18 states now can call family and friends in many the call’s destination. The service is only available using coins. countries around the world for a Dialing instructions are placed on the specially equipped phones with bright yellow headsets. Callers only need to dial the one-minute chat when theycall from Verizon payphones. More than 68,000 Verizon pay- international number. Voice prompts tell the user when to deposit the coins and how many phones across the nation are now equipped to handle international direct-dialed calls through an minutes that will buy. No operators are involved, unless a caller agreement with Phonel, a company that provides international long-distance service. The spe- cially equipped phones with bright yellow handsets will be easy to spot. More than a year ago, the service was introduced on 20,000 payphones in NewYorkCity. “We expect this great deal on international calling from Verizon payphones will be a big hit with New York’s diverse population and the region’s huge concentration of tourists from around the world,” said Michael McLaughlin, national marketing manager for Verizon Public Communications. “Using just pocket change, New Yorkers can stay in touch anywhere in the world from anywhere in the state and visitors f i POCKET CHANGE—Callers at 68,000 Verizon payphones nationwide now have the world in their pocket. They can nowcall many countries around the world for just 25 cents. can call home without inflating their hotels bills.” Few long distance companies provide international direct-dialed calling from payphones at reasonable prices. The averagepricefor a one-minute international pay- phonecall using a prepaid calling card is $2.50. How It Works Callers can dial many countries needs assistance. When 30 sec- onds of the call remain, a record- ing will tell the caller to deposit one dollar in coins for an additional block of time. If no coins are deposited, the call will end when the time expires. Popular With Minorities The new service is proving to be popular with tourists as well as immigrants from countries such as the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. Verizon operates more than 330,000 payphones in 38 states and is one of the world’s leading providers of communications ser- vices. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.
