Verizon signs sponsorship deal with Long Beach

Verizon, provider of the fastest Internet connections in Southern California through its all-fiber- optic network direct to customers' homes, is inviting everyone to move into the fast lane with free passes to the 33rd Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach next month.

The passes, which are good for general admission on April 13, can be downloaded and printed at http://www.verizon.com/freefriday. The Grand Prix continues through April 15.

Verizon, the official communications sponsor for the race, will host several tents throughout the race enclosure at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center during the weekend of the race, providing visitors with an opportunity to learn about the company's FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services.

"We're thrilled to be part of this exciting sport where speed rules," said Dustin Kroeger, director of consumer marketing for Verizon's West Coast region. "There's no better place than the Grand Prix to demonstrate Verizon FiOS Internet, the fastest broadband experience in the market and the Internet equivalent of driving a Grand Prix racing car."

Verizon's FiOS delivers speeds of up to 30 Mbps (megabits per second). At that speed, downloading a 1.2 gigabyte full-length feature movie takes about 5 minutes.

Verizon's one-year sponsorship agreement with the Grand Prix of Long Beach will give the company marketing and brand exposure opportunities at the race, including on-track signage, extensive merchandising rights and a trackside suite for client entertainment. In addition, a pedestrian bridge over the Long Beach Promenade, connecting the Shoreline Village to the track, will be renamed the Verizon Bridge, and the company will use its sponsorship rights to conduct various promotions.