Today marks the official day Unicel will become Verizon Wireless in Troy.

Verizon Wireless will officially celebrate the unity with its grand opening of the Troy Communications store today.

The Pike County Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a ribbon cutting as part of the grand opening festivities.

As part of the grand opening event, Verizon Wireless will offer several special promotions including 25 percent off accessories and some special offers on handsets.

“There are really too many to list,” said Caran Smith, public relations manager for Verizon WirelEss.

Verizon Wireless will present The House of Ruth, a domestic violence agency and shelter, a HopeLine grant in honor of the Rural Cellular Corp. mergers in Troy and Enterprise.

HopeLine accepts wireless phones and accessories in any condition from any manufacturer for reuse and recycling.

All phones donated to HopeLine that can be refurbished are sold for reuse and those that are not salvageable are recycled in an environmentally sound way under a zero landfill policy. “HopeLine is our national phone recycling program,” Smith said.

Smith said Verizon Wireless has been working toward helping those influenced by domestic violence for years now, and this program enables the company to do so.

“We are able to refurbish recycled phones and sell them or we are able to donate cash grants to the programs,” Smith said.

House of Ruth serves eight Alabama counties, including Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike.

The grand opening celebration is in conjunction with Verizon’s Aug. 7, 2008 purchase of RCC.

“Specifically (the grand opening and RCC merger) enables Verizon Wireless to provide service in an area we didn’t before. It allows us to provide America’s most reliable network,” Smith said.

With the purchase, Verizon Wireless increased its coverage area by 4.7 million people, and added licenses to cover markets in 15 states including Alabama.

“We’re very excited to be a part of this community,” Smith said. “Again to add our footprint that no matter where you are in Alabama you have the service you want and need.”