Verizon wireless reviewed

Verizon Wireless: Truly Unlimited

The one largest carrier out of all the big boys of American telecommunications today, as defined by the number of subscribers, Verizon Communications come out of a $52 billion merger between GTE and one of the Baby Bells, Bell Atlantic, back in the year 2000. Verizon Communications conducts business in the wireless market under the brand name of Verizon Wireless, with over 87 million subscribers across the United States. Because of all the many acquisitions which form its corporate pedigree, Verizon Wireless has inherited all the massive telecommunications infrastructure of several companies: NYNEX, AirTouch, PrimeCo, and most recently, as mentioned above, GTE and Bell Atlantic.

This latest chapter began during the years 1995 and 1997, when NYNEX and Bell Atlantic increasingly merged their operations, until finally reuniting as one single company once more after being broken up, over a decade prior, by the government as a part of the settlement in the famous Ma Bell anti-trust case. Then, in the first half of 1999, AirTouch Communications and Vodafone Group merged with one another, while in the second half the newly merged behemoth announced a joint-venture with Bell Atlantic, under the label “Verizon Wireless.” The word “Verizon” was coined because it combined “veritas,” which is Latin for “truth,” with the English word “horizon,” and it was hoped that the resulting portmanteau would convey notions of reliability and limitless possibilities.

That merger received regulatory approval within another six months, so that Verizon Wireless began formal operations at last on April 4, 2000. It was at the end of June that same year when GTE was acquired, in sync with the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, to found Verizon Communications. The new company then started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol of “VZ.” This symbol was selected because it is made up of the two letters of the Verizon logo that best illustrate the idea of speed, further suggesting all the noble sentiments previously described above, with their long red lightning-like zig-zag.

Verizon Wireless is one of only two major American carriers that run on CDMA technology, supporting 3G CDMA (IS-95, 1x, and EV-DO networks). The company states that it invests $8 billion annually on maintenance and capital expansion of their nationwide network. Both voice and 3G data services, like wireless broadband, and text and photo messaging, are available. Other things that can be done are over-the-air downloadable applications and content, on-demand video, push-to-talk, and certain location-based services. Verizon is currently working, using safety glasses, on transitioning their network onto 4G LTE standards, heralding a gradual shift from CDMA technology in order to provide for vastly expanded feature and service-sets. In one way or another, Verizon Wireless boasts of covering over 290 million people across the United States.

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This history of Verizon Wireless was written by Paul Wise. Paul recommends http://www.onsalecell.com to anybody looking for a Verizon Wireless Phone without a contract.

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