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Verizon Offers New Gaming Service - Playlinc

In an effort to establish relationships with gamers – both serious and casual alike, Verizon has introduced PlayLinc - a free service to connect online gamers. With its free public servers, gamers now can connect with friends and other gaming companions for private user sessions without the added expense of rental equipment.

Playlinc also combines Voice, Instant Messaging, and game management into one easy-to-use interface, all in an effort to enhance the user’s online playing experience.

In response to this announcement, Colson Hillier, director of new product development for Verizon stated, “We’re changing the world for gamers. PlayLinc sets players free to enjoy online gaming the way it should be – fun, easy and affordable.” And that’s not all. Verizon has also launched a gaming community Web site, games.verizon.com, which includes forums, frequently-asked questions, blogs, gaming news and more.

What Verizon Hopes to Gain

By establishing a relationship with the gaming community, Verizon hopes to stimulate a bevy of other business opportunities including: game distribution, onsite and in-game advertising, Verizon products and services promotion, and most important – increase adoption of Verizon FiOS and DSL broadband services.

FiOS or Fiber Optic System is a Broadband telecommunications system based on fiber optic cables, and while Playlinc is compatible with any Broadband service; Verizon hopes Playlinc users will take advantage of FiOS speeds and other capabilities. With FiOS, gamers and other Broadband users can download at speeds of up to 5 to 50Mbps and upload at speeds of 2 to 5Mbps.

The Playlinc Package

With Playlinc, gamers get a single, easy-to-use interface and plenty of tools to enhance their playing experience; including: The ability to launch their own servers; Support for PC and console games; True server-based voice capabilities; America Online's AIM messaging service; Game Area Network (GAN); In-game and on-game chat and Internet browsing.

Games for Casual User

And for the casual game enthusiast, Verizon offers a variety of services and packages, including Unlimited, which offers more than 450 full version PC games; Family Place, which provide 250 family-friendly games; and Quick Pac, which offer 40 fun “lunch break” games, all at reasonable prices.

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