Verizon Communications

**Verizon Communications Inc.** (About this sound listen (help·info)) (/vəˈraɪzən/ və-RY-zən), or simply Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is based at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, but is incorporated in Delaware.

The Justice Department of the United States mandated AT&T Corporation to break up the Bell System. One of the seven Baby Bells, Bell Atlantic, came into existence in 1984 consisting of the separate operating companies New Jersey Bell, Bell of Pennsylvania, Diamond State Telephone, and C&P Telephone, with a footprint from New Jersey to Virginia.

As part of a rebranding of the Baby Bells in the mid-1990s, all of Bell Atlantic's operating companies assumed the holding company's name. In 1997, Bell Atlantic expanded into New York and the New England states by merging with fellow Baby Bell NYNEX. Although Bell Atlantic was the surviving company name, the merged company moved its headquarters from Philadelphia to NYNEX's old headquarters in New York City. In 2000, Bell Atlantic acquired GTE, which operated telecommunications companies across most of the rest of the country that was not already in Bell Atlantic's footprint. Bell Atlantic, the surviving entity, changed its name to "Verizon", a portmanteau of veritas (Latin for "truth") and horizon.

In 2015, Verizon expanded its business into content ownership by acquiring AOL, and two years later it acquired Yahoo!. AOL and Yahoo were amalgamated into a new division named Oath Inc.

As of 2016, Verizon is one of three remaining companies that had their roots in the former Baby Bells. The other two, like Verizon, exist as a result of mergers among fellow former Baby Bell members. SBC Communications, bought out the Bells' former parent AT&T Corporation, and assumed the AT&T name. CenturyLink, was formed initially in 2011 by the acquisition of Qwest (formerly named US West).

Verizon's subsidiary Verizon Wireless is the largest U.S. wireless communications service provider as of September 2014, with 147 million mobile customers. And as of 2017, Verizon is the only publicly-traded telecommunications company to have two stock listings in its home country, both the NYSE (VZ; main) and Nasdaq (VZA; secondary) As of 2017, it is also the second largest telecommunications company by revenue after AT&T.

## History

### Bell Atlantic (1983–2000)

Bell Atlantic Corporation was created as one of the original Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) in 1984, during the breakup of the Bell System.[18][19] Bell Atlantic's original roster of operating companies included:

The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania
New Jersey Bell
Diamond State Telephone
C&P Telephone (itself comprising four subsidiaries)
Bell Atlantic originally operated in the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, as well as Washington, DC.

In 1996, CEO and Chairman Raymond W. Smith orchestrated Bell Atlantic's merger with NYNEX. When it merged, it moved its corporate headquarters from Philadelphia to New York City. NYNEX was consolidated into this name by 1997.

### Merger of equals (2000–2002)

Bell Atlantic changed its name to Verizon Communications in June 2000 when the Federal Communications Commission approved the US$64.7 billion Merger with telephone company GTE, nearly two years after the deal was proposed in July 1998. The approval came with 25 stipulations to preserve competition between local phone carriers, including investing in new markets and broadband technologies. The new entity was headed by co-CEOs Charles Lee, formerly the CEO of GTE, and Bell Atlantic CEO Ivan Seidenberg.

Verizon became the largest local telephone company in the United States, operating 63 million telephone lines in 40 states. The company also inherited 25 million mobile phone customers. Additionally, Verizon offered internet services and long-distance calling in New York, before expanding long-distance operations to other states.

The name Verizon derives from the combination of the words veritas, Latin for truth, and horizon. The name was chosen from 8,500 candidates and the company spent $300 million on marketing the new brand.

Two months before the FCC gave final approval on the formation of Verizon Communications, Bell Atlantic formed Verizon Wireless in a joint venture with the British telecommunications company Vodafone in April 2000. The companies established Verizon Wireless as its own business operated by Bell Atlantic, which owned 55% of the venture. Vodafone retained 45% of the company. The deal was valued at approximately $70 billion and created a mobile carrier with 23 million customers. Verizon Wireless merged Bell Atlantic's wireless network, Vodafone's AirTouch and PrimeCo holdings, and the wireless division of GTE. Due to its size, Verizon Wireless was able to offer national coverage at competitive rates, giving it an advantage over regional providers typical of the time.

During its first operational year, Verizon Wireless released Mobile Web, an Internet service that allowed customers to access partner sites such as E\*Trade, ABC News, ESPN, Amazon.com, Ticketmaster and MSN, as well as the "New Every Two" program, which gave customers a free phone with every two-year service contract. In another partnership with MSN in 2002, Verizon Wireless launched the mobile content service "VZW with MSN" and a phone that utilized the Microsoft Windows operating system.

In August 2000, approximately 85,000 Verizon workers went on an 18-day labor strike after their union contracts expired. The strike affected quarterly revenues, resulting in Verizon Wireless' postponement of the company's IPO (the IPO was ultimately cancelled in 2003, because the company no longer needed to raise revenue for Verizon Wireless due to increased profits), and created a backlog of repairs.

Verizon launched 3G service in 2002, which doubled the Internet speeds of the time to 144kb a second. In August 2002, Verizon began offering local, long-distance, and mobile calling, as well as Internet service, in a bundle. It was initially only available to customers in New York and Massachusetts.

### 2003–2005

In June 2003, Verizon Wireless backed an FCC-issued portability requirement that permitted consumers to take their phone numbers with them across carriers. The company gained 1.5 million new subscribers the following quarter, partially due to the rule change. The following year, in April 2004, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added Verizon Communications to its stock market index. Verizon replaced telecom competitor AT&T, which had been a part of the index since the Great Depression.

On December 22, 2004, mail servers at Verizon.net were configured not to accept connections from Europe, by default, in an attempt to reduce spam email that was originating from the region. Individual domains would only be unblocked upon request.

In 2004, Verizon launched its Fios Internet service, which transmits data over fiber optic cables, in Keller, Texas.[46][47] The company launched Fios TV in September 2005, also in Keller, Texas. Twenty percent of qualified homes signed up by the end of the year. By January 2006, Fios offered over 350 channels in eight states, including 20 high-definition television channels as well as video on demand.