Cellco Partnership, doing business as
Verizon Wireless, is the wireless phone provider that owns and operates the second largest mobile telecommunications network in the United States, based on a total of 94.1 million U.S. subscribers, as of Q4 2010 behind the largest carrier AT&T Mobility with, as of, Q4 2010 had 95.5 million total subscribers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, the company is a joint venture of U.S. telecommunications firm
Verizon Communications and British multinational mobile network operator Vodafone, with 55 and 45 percent ownership respectively. On January 9, 2009,
Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel Wireless in a deal valued at $28.1 billion. The acquisition expanded
Verizon's wireless network.
HistoryVerizon Wireless traces its roots to Bell Atlantic Mobile, NYNEX Mobile Communications, AirTouch Communications, PrimeCo Communications, and GTE Mobilnet. Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile Communications merged in 1995 to create Bell Atlantic - NYNEX Mobile, and in 1997 their namesake Baby Bell parents followed suit to form the new Bell Atlantic and their wireless subsidiary was renamed Bell Atlantic Mobile. Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile Communications was created from Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Inc., which was a subsidiary of AT&T created in 1978 to provide cellular service nationwide. AMPS, Inc. was divided among the RBOCs as part of the Bell System Divestiture.
Meanwhile, in June 1999, AirTouch Communications of San Francisco, California merged with UK-based Vodafone Group Plc, forming Vodafone AirTouch Plc. In September 1999, Vodafone AirTouch announced a $90-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp. to be called
Verizon Wireless, and which would comprise the two companies' U.S. wireless assets: Bell Atlantic Mobile and AirTouch Paging. This wireless joint venture received regulatory approval in six months, and began operations as
Verizon Wireless on April 4, 2000. On June 30, 2000, the addition of GTE Wireless' assets, in connection with the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE to form
Verizon Communications, made
Verizon Wireless the nation's largest wireless communications provider.
Verizon held that position until Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless in 2004, and again after their acquisition of Alltel in 2009. For the joint venture,
Verizon Communications owns 55% and UK-based Vodafone Group (formerly Vodafone AirTouch) owns 45%. The name "
Verizon," a portmanteau, is derived by combining the word "veritas," a Latin term that means "truth," and the word "horizon." Together, they are supposed to conjure images of reliability, certainty, leadership, and limitless possibilities.
NetworkVerizon Wireless is one of two major U.S. carriers that use CDMA technology, the other being Sprint Nextel. Alltel also used CDMA before becoming part of
Verizon Wireless. Other regional carriers that use CDMA are: U.S. Cellular, Cricket, and MetroPCS (see List of United States mobile phone companies for more information).
Verizon supports the 3 generations of CDMA (IS-95, 1x, and EV-DO) networks and now its newest 4G LTE service which was released on Sunday December 5, 2010 in many cities. At this time, 4G LTE service is only offered as a mobile broadband data option. 4G LTE-Compatible
Verizon mobile phones are expected to be released 1st and 2nd quarter of 2011.
Verizon Wireless invests $5.7 billion annually on average to maintain and expand its nationwide CDMA network.
Verizon Wireless offers voice services as well as 3G data services such as wireless broadband based on EV-DO Rev A, text and picture messaging, over-the-air downloadable applications and content from its "Media Center" ( previously called, Get-It-Now) service, Video on Demand in the form of V CAST (which allows customers to download and view video content), location-based services, and Push-to-Talk.
On June 30, 2007,
Verizon Wireless had completed the overhaul of the entire EV-DO network to EV-DO Rev. A. This enables PC Cards and certain phones to obtain theoretical peak download speeds of 3.1 Mbit/s and upload speeds of up to 1.8 Mbit/s. The actual download and upload speeds vary due to a number of factors, and users will typically see speeds close to 1 Mbit/s down, and 500 kbit/s up.
On 27 November 2007,
Verizon Wireless announced plans to allow all cell phones compatible with their CDMA technology to run on their network. Users of such phones are also allowed to use any application they wish.
However, on September 20, 2007,
Verizon Wireless had announced a joint effort with the Vodafone Group to transition their networks to the 4G standard LTE and on November 29, 2007,
Verizon Wireless announced that they would start LTE trials in 2008. On December 9, 2008, Verizon announced that they intend to build and begin to roll out an LTE network, by the beginning of 2011. Adopting LTE would make for a gradual shift away from
Verizon Wireless’ current use of CDMA technology because it is a completely different platform, but would offer increased operability for users traveling worldwide.
On January 25, 2009,
Verizon Wireless released its first Femtocell called the
Verizon Wireless Network Extender.
Verizon claims to operate "America's Largest and Most Reliable Wireless Network," covering approximately 290 million people.
On December 5th, 2010
Verizon Wireless launched its "4G LTE" network. Only two USB modems were available at launch. In an announcement made on January 6th, 2011, from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,
Verizon Wireless stated in the first half of 2011 they will release: 10 new LTE devices including, four smartphones, two tablets, two netbooks, and two MiFi hotspots.
AdvertisingIn 2000,
Verizon Wireless advertised they were, for a time, the largest cellular network in the country by showing people using cell phones and then gesturing with two fingers, much like the World War II-era "V for Victory" sign, to show that the person was on the Verizon ("V" or "iN") network. The slogan for
Verizon Wireless at that time was "Join in." (Reminiscent of the slogan "Join in" was used in their marketing scheme up to this day. i.e., "iN-calling," "iN-messaging," and even the toll-free number "1-800-2-JOIN-IN.").
Later, Verizon adopted the slogan "We never stop working for you," with commercials (starting in 2002) depicting a Verizon employee roaming about in strange places continuously asking, "Can you hear me now? Good." (The "employee" is played by stage actor Paul Marcarelli) The "test man" represents Verizon test technicians.
In 2005,
Verizon Wireless added an "army" of network engineers into their commercials in conjunction with the "test man" and introduced the slogan "It's the Network." to emphasize their network quality. (
Verizon Wireless still uses the slogan "We never stop working for you." from time to time — especially on their website, toll-free number, and shopping bags.)
In 2008,
Verizon Wireless sponsored Korean pop sensation Se7en further helping Se7en trademark his name in America and promote his U.S. debut single that was released in spring 2009.
Also in 2008,
Verizon Wireless began a new television advertising campaign, with parodies of horror movies (including The Shining), with people trying to scare a main character with tales of a Dead Zone where calls cannot be made, who calmly responds that he or she has Verizon, and then the slogan appears, "Don't be afraid of Dead Zones."
In early 2009,
Verizon Wireless officially dropped the "IN" campaign. Previously, calls between two
Verizon Wirelesssubscribers were referred to as IN calling, but will now be referred to as Mobile-to-Mobile calling. With this change,
Verizon Wireless also renamed their prepaid service
Verizon Wireless Prepaid from iNPulse to Prepay.
In mid-2009, when the markets Verizon acquired from Alltel began to transition to the
Verizon Wireless brand, web ads began to appear showing the test man with Chad, the Alltel salesman character that has appeared on Alltel commercials for the past five years.
Late in 2009, Verizon began ads that made use of the iPhone "There's an app for that" slogan, changing it to "There's a map for that" (see below). They began with maps showing large areas of the United States covered in red to represent Verizon's 3G service, with very limited areas in blue to show 3G service for AT&T, which was required to use the full capabilities of the iPhone. The ads progressively got more aggressive, including one where the iPhone was placed on the Island of Misfit Toys.
In November 2009,
Verizon Wireless officially released the Motorola Droid. Analysts estimate Verizon sold between 100,000 and 200,000 Droids in its opening weekend; the wireless carrier should sell a total of 765,000 Droids by year-end, according to Avian Securities' forecast. At this pace, Droid, which was released in early November, would slightly trail the performance of the first Blackberry Storm, which sold a million units by the end of January after going on sale just before Thanksgiving last year.
In 2010 Verizon launched its latest advertising campaign creating the new tagline "Rule The Air." The campaign boasts Verizon's superior ability to "send a strong signal" and early advertisements heavily feature Verizon's range of Android powered smartphones.
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