Verizon Wireless
 |
|
| Verizon Wireless | |
| Subsidiary of Verizon Communications | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | April 4, 2000 Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Headquarters | Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States |
|
Number of locations
|
2,330 |
|
Area served
|
United States |
|
Key people
|
|
| Services | Mobile telephony |
| Parent | Verizon Communications |
| Website | www |
|
Footnotes / references |
|
Verizon Wireless (legally named Cellco Partnership, often branded and referred to as Verizon) is an American company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications, that offers wireless telecommunications products and services. With 145.7 million subscribers as of January 2017, Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States.
The company is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. It was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of American telecommunications firm Bell Atlantic, which would soon become Verizon Communications, and British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone. Verizon Communications became sole owner in 2014 by buying Vodafone's 45-percent stake in the company.
It operates a national 4G LTE network covering about 98 percent of the U.S. population, which in December 2015 won or tied for top honors in each category of the RootMetrics RootScore Reports. Verizon Wireless offers mobile phone services through a variety of devices. Its LTE in Rural America Program, with 21 rural wireless carriers participating, covers 2.7 million potential users in 169 rural counties. Verizon Wireless announced in 2015 that it was developing a 5G, or fifth generation, network.
In September 1999, American phone company Bell Atlantic and U.K.-based Vodafone Airtouch PLC announced they would create a new wireless phone service joint venture valued at $70 billion. The joint venture was being created as Bell Atlantic underwent a merger with GTE Corporation. In April 2000, the companies announced that the Bell Atlantic-GTE merger would take the name Verizon and that the Bell Atlantic-Vodafone wireless unit would be called Verizon Wireless (legally Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless).Verizon Communications owned 55 percent of Verizon Wireless while Vodafone retained 45 percent ownership. Regulators with the Federal Communications Commission approved the Bell Atlantic-GTE merger June 16, 2000, creating the largest wireless company in the U.S. Verizon Wireless held this market position until Cingular acquired AT&T Wireless Services in 2004.
...
Wikipedia