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| Verizon |
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is the largest mobile telecommunications network and wireless phone provider in the United States. The network has 104 million subscribers as of Q1 2011, just in front of the second largest carrier, AT&T Mobility, which has 97.5 million subscribers as of Q1 2011
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.
History
Verizon 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 were 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. However, with the pending T-Mobile and AT&T merger in place, Verizon will become the 2nd largest provider in the United States. 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.
Network
Verizon 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 that time, 4G LTE service was only offered as a mobile broadband data option. 4G LTE-Compatible Verizon mobile phones were released in the 1st 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[12] 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 5, 2010 Verizon Wireless launched its "4G LTE" network. Only two USB modems were available at launch. In an announcement made on January 6, 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, five smartphones, two tablets, two netbooks, and two MiFi hotspots.