Verizon History: A Success Story of Global Telecommunication Giant
What's Inside?
Overview of Verizon
Verizon Communication is a US-based multinational company which was first introduced in 1984. It is now the largest telecommunication in the United States. One of the leading global technology company delivering the promise of the digital world to millions of customers every day.
Well, in this article we outlined a history of Verizon company and how the company became a global telecommunication & technology giant? 
Verizon History
When the Federal Communications Commission approved a US$64.7 billion acquisition of telephone company. GTE, Bell Atlantic changed its name to Verizon Communications in June 2000. The approval came with 25 provisions to preserve competition. It was between local phone carriers, including investing in new markets and broadband technologies.
After the acquisition with GTE, Verizon became the largest local telephone company in the United States. At that time the company was operating 63 million telephone lines in 40 states. The name of Verizon has acquired from the Latin 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.
Bell Atlantic formed Verizon Wireless in a joint venture with the British telecommunications company Vodafone. In April 2000, two months before the FCC gave final approval on the formation of Verizon Communications.
Bell Atlantic owned 55% stake of the Verizon Wireless whereas Vodafone retained 45% stake of the company. The deal was valued at $70 billion approximately and created a mobile carrier with 23 million customers.
Verizon released service named Mobile Web in its first operational year, which is an Internet service that allowed customers to access partner sites such as E*Trade, ABC News, 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 2002 Verizon in partnership with MSN launched the mobile content service “VZW with MSN” and a phone that utilized the Microsoft Windows operating system.
A major blow for Verizon arrived when approximately 85,000 Verizon workers went on an 18-day labor strike after their union contracts expired. The strike cost Verizon its quarterly revenues, resulting in Verizon Wireless’ postponement of the company’s IPO.
Verizon changed the market dynamics by launching 3G in 2003 which provided fast internet speed than normal 144 Kbps.
Growth over the Years
Verizon Wireless backed an FCC-issued portability requirement that permitted consumers to take their phone numbers with them across carriers in June 2003. The new rule gained company 1.5 million new subscribers the following quarter. Verizon acquired MCI for $7.6 billion on March 29, 2005.
The acquisition with MCI gave the company access to MCI’s one million corporate clients and international holdings, expanding Verizon’s presence into global markets. As a result, Verizon Business was established as a new division to serve the company’s buy klonopin online India business and government customers.
The FCC approved the deal on November 5, 2005, valuing it at $8.5 billion. The rise in revenue of Verizon in 2006 was as much as 20% following the purchase.
Although Verizon was growing rapidly it was not free from the controversy. It was taken to court by two lawyers on the behalf of Verizon subscriber for $50 billion lawsuits.
Verizon was accused that it had given the National Security Agency landline phone records following the September 11 attacks. The company stated in 2007 that the company fulfilled only “lawful demands”. Later acknowledged surrendering customer information to government agencies without court orders or warrants 720 times between 2005 and 
2007.
Verizon Wireless purchased Alltel Wireless carrier for $28.1 billion in June 2008. The acquisition included 13 million customers, which allowed Verizon Wireless to surpass AT&T in a number of customers and reach new markets in the rural area.
Verizon Wireless paid $77.8 million in refunds and FCC penalties for overcharging 15 million customers for data services, in October 2010. The company stated the overcharges swindle accidental and only amounted to a few dollars per customer.
Verizon introduced its first 4G LTE network in 38 markets in December 2010, as well as in airports in seven additional cities. The company planned on a three-year constant expansion of the 4G service.
Present Situation of Verizon
In June 2012, as part of its strategy to expand into new growth areas in its wireless business, Verizon purchased Hughes Telematics—a company that produces wireless features for automobiles—for $612 million. FCC ruled that Verizon must stop charging users an added fee for using 4G smartphones and tablets as Wi-Fi hotspots (known as “tethering”) in July 2012.
Verizon had been charging its customers, even those with “unlimited” plans, $20 per month for tethering. Verizon made a voluntary payment of $1.25 million to the U.S. Treasury as a part of the settlement. On May 12, 2015, Verizon announced they would acquire AOL at $50 per share, for a deal valued around $4.4 billion.
In the year 2016, Verizon announced that it would acquire the core internet business of Yahoo for $4.83 billion. Following the completion of the acquisitions, Verizon created a new division called Oath, which includes the AOL and Yahoo brands. Their acquisition of Yahoo did not include Yahoo’s stakes in Alibaba Group and Yahoo! 
Japan.
Verizon Net Worth
The total revenue of the Verizon in 2017 was $126.034 billion. Verizon net worth as of January 23, 2019, is $235.25 billion.
Looking for continuous improvement Verizon is looking to launch 5G as soon as testing of 5G is completed. Only in its 18th year of establishment, Verizon has become one of the biggest communication service providers in the world. Such has been the growth of the company.
