Verizon

Verizon traces its history to the Bell telephone system. In March 1876, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first words to his assistant Thomas Watson using his invention, the telephone; in July 1877, Bell and his father-in-law formed the Bell Telephone Company in Boston; in March 1885, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&TAT&TAT&T (AT&T Inc.) is a telecommunications company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Its predecessor was SBC Communications, a regional holding company created in the 1984 breakup of the Bell System; SBC merged with the original AT&T Corp. in 2005 and adopted its name, and it has since operated a nationwide wireless network and fiber broadband, at one time also owning DIRECTV and WarnerMedia.Open the full entry) was incorporated as the long lines division of American Bell, and after a restructuring in December 1899 it became the parent company of the Bell System.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In November 1974, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against AT&T. Under the settlement, AT&T relinquished control of local telephone service in January 1984, creating seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (the so-called “Baby Bells”), including Bell Atlantic and NYNEX. Verizon’s predecessor, Bell Atlantic Corporation, was incorporated in Delaware in 1983.⁠[1][1][2]

In July 1995, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX formed Bell Atlantic Mobile, covering 55 million people along the East Coast and in the Southwest and a precursor of Verizon Wireless. After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened local telephone markets to competition, the two companies agreed in February 1997 to merge their remaining operations in a $23 billion deal, forming the “new” Bell Atlantic. In December 1999, Bell Atlantic became the first Baby Bell to win FCC approval to offer long-distance service inside its local region.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In April 2000, Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch combined their U.S. wireless businesses into the joint venture Cellco Partnership, operating as Verizon Wireless; with the later addition of GTE’s wireless customers, it soon became the largest wireless carrier in the United States.⁠[1][3]

On June 30, 2000, Bell Atlantic and GTE completed their merger, one of the largest in U.S. business history, in a deal valued at $52 billion; the combined company was renamed Verizon Communications Inc., joining Bell Atlantic’s network with GTE’s national footprint. Ivan Seidenberg led Verizon from its inception until his retirement in 2011.⁠[4][1][1]

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Verizon assessed damage to its major switching center at 140 West Street in lower Manhattan, adjacent to the World Trade Center, and worked around the clock to restore service to affected customers.⁠[1]

In April 2004, Verizon was named one of the 30 component companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average because of its size and industry influence.⁠[1]

In August 2004, Verizon offered high-speed broadband over its all-fiber network for the first time; in September 2005 it launched Fios TV, with more than 300 channels and on-demand programming at launch, as an alternative to cable and satellite television.⁠[1][1]

On January 6, 2006, Verizon completed its merger with long-distance company MCI, gaining an international long-distance network and a number of large corporate customers, and created the Verizon Business division to serve medium and large businesses and government customers; MCI’s operations were incorporated into its wireline segment.⁠[2][1]

In April 2008, Verizon won $9.4 billion worth of nationwide wireless spectrum in FCC Auction 73, paving the way for its LTE network; in November 2008, the FCC granted it 109 licenses in the 700 MHz band, some of which can cover the entire U.S. population except Alaska. In August of that year, Verizon Wireless acquired Rural Cellular, extending coverage to rural markets in 15 states.⁠[1][5][1]

On January 9, 2009, Verizon Wireless completed its all-cash acquisition of Alltel Corporation for $5.9 billion in cash plus the assumption of approximately $24 billion in principal amount of debt; the deal made Verizon the largest wireless provider in the United States by customers and revenue, with a network covering more than 290 million people.⁠[5][5][1]

In December 2010, Verizon Wireless launched the first wide-area 4G LTE network in the United States, initially covering 38 major markets and more than 110 million people; less than 24 months later, LTE service reached its 400th market. In February 2011, after Apple’s exclusivity agreement with AT&T ended, the iPhone 4 became the first iPhone sold on Verizon’s network.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In August 2011, Verizon’s board named Lowell McAdam, then president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, as the company’s president and chief executive officer, and Ivan Seidenberg retired that December. In December, Verizon bought 122 wireless spectrum licenses covering 259 million people for $3.6 billion from SpectrumCo, a joint venture of several cable companies, to meet demand for 4G LTE.⁠[1][1][1]

On September 2, 2013, Verizon agreed with Vodafone to acquire Vodafone’s indirect 45% interest in Verizon Wireless for approximately $130 billion, paid primarily in cash and Verizon common stock; the deal closed on February 21, 2014, giving Verizon full ownership of the largest wireless provider in the United States by retail connections and revenue.⁠[3][3][3]

That year Verizon continued to add AWS spectrum: in April 2014 it agreed to acquire Cincinnati Bell’s wireless spectrum licenses and related assets for $210 million, assigning the licenses to private equity firm Grain ManagementGrain ManagementGrain Management (Grain Management, LLC) is a private investment firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., founded by David Grain in 2007, that invests exclusively in digital infrastructure such as fiber networks, wireless spectrum, cell towers, data centers and telecommunications services. In 2026 it acquired a nationwide portfolio of 800 MHz low-band spectrum from T-Mobile and then agreed to sell that spectrum to SpaceX, a transaction still pending approval by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.Open the full entry and leasing most of them back.⁠[6][6]

In June 2015, Verizon acquired digital content and advertising company AOL for $4.4 billion; in July 2016 it announced the acquisition of Yahoo’s core internet business for approximately $4.83 billion in cash, which closed in June 2017. Verizon then combined Yahoo’s operating business with AOL and Verizon Digital Media Services to form Oath, a group of more than 50 media and technology brands including HuffPost, Yahoo Sports and AOL.com.⁠[1][1][7][7][1]

On March 7, 2016, the FCC Enforcement Bureau reached a settlement with Verizon Wireless. The investigation found that Verizon Wireless had inserted Unique Identifier Headers (UIDH) into customers’ internet traffic for targeted advertising as early as December 2012 but did not disclose the practice until October 2014 or update its privacy policy until March 2015, and that at least one advertising partner used UIDH to restore cookies users had deleted. Verizon Wireless agreed to pay a $1.35 million fine and to obtain customers’ opt-in consent before sharing UIDH with third parties; the consent decree states that Verizon Wireless cooperated with the investigation.⁠[8][8][8][8][8]

In April 2016, Verizon completed the sale of its local exchange and related landline businesses in California, Florida and Texas, including Fios internet and video customers, to Frontier Communications for approximately $10.5 billion (including $0.6 billion of debt assumed by Frontier); Frontier acquired about 3.3 million voice connections, 1.6 million Fios internet subscribers and 1.2 million Fios video subscribers, and about 9,300 employees moved to Frontier.⁠[7][7][7][7]

In February 2017, Verizon completed the acquisition of XO Holdings’ fiber wireline business for approximately $1.5 billion in cash and exercised an option to buy spectrum holder NextLink for approximately $0.5 billion (closed January 2018); that year it also agreed to acquire millimeter-wave spectrum holder Straight Path, with the spectrum to be used for its 5G deployment.⁠[7][7][7][7]

In June 2018, Lowell McAdam announced his retirement after seven years as CEO, a tenure that included the acquisition of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless, expansion into telematics and the creation of Oath. The board named Hans Vestberg, then Executive Vice President, President of Global Networks and Chief Technology Officer, as CEO effective August 1.⁠[1][1]

In October 2018, Verizon launched the fixed wireless broadband service 5G Home in Sacramento, which the company called the first commercial 5G service; on April 3, 2019, it switched on its 5G Ultra Wideband network in parts of Minneapolis and Chicago, offering what the company called the world’s first commercial 5G mobile service with a 5G-enabled smartphone.⁠[1][1]

In February 2021, the FCC concluded Auction 107 for C-Band mid-band spectrum; Verizon won 3,511 licenses covering 140 to 200 MHz of contiguous C-Band spectrum in all 406 markets, paying $45.5 billion plus estimated clearing and incentive costs of $7.7 billion; from July 2022 it began deploying 5G on 100 MHz of C-Band spectrum in many markets.⁠[9][9][9][1]

On May 2, 2021, Verizon agreed to sell its media business, Verizon Media, to an affiliate of Apollo Global Management; the deal closed on September 1, with Verizon retaining a 10% common interest in the new company, renamed Yahoo. Verizon Media’s revenue under Verizon’s ownership that year was $5.3 billion.⁠[9][9][1][9]

On November 23, 2021, Verizon completed its acquisition of U.S. prepaid and value mobile provider TracFone Wireless from América Móvil for approximately $3.5 billion in cash, 57,596,544 Verizon shares valued at approximately $3.0 billion, and up to $650 million in contingent cash consideration.⁠[9][9][9]

On April 29, 2024, the FCC announced penalties against the four major wireless carriers for selling customer location data, fining Verizon $46,901,250. The FCC found that Verizon’s location-based services (LBS) program, which ran until March 2019, sold access to customer location information directly or indirectly to 67 third parties through the aggregators LocationSmart and Zumigo without valid consent or reasonable safeguards; after the security breaches in its location services came to light in 2018, Verizon did not terminate most arrangements until November 30 of that year. The FCC had proposed a $48,318,750 fine in its February 28, 2020 notice of apparent liability and reduced it by $1,417,500 based on facts Verizon provided.⁠[10][11][11][11][11][11][11][11][11]

Verizon argued in the proceeding that location information is not protected customer proprietary network information (CPNI), that it lacked fair notice, and that the fine was arbitrary. After paying the penalty, it petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for review and was denied; on June 4, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision consolidated with the AT&T case, ruled 8–1 that the FCC’s issuance of forfeiture orders without a jury does not violate the Seventh Amendment, affirming the Second Circuit.⁠[11][11][12][12][12][12][12][12]

On July 22, 2024, the FCC announced a settlement with TracFone, a wholly owned Verizon subsidiary. The investigation concerned three data breaches between 2021 and 2023 in which attackers exploited vulnerabilities in TracFone’s customer-facing application programming interfaces (APIs) to obtain personal information such as names and billing addresses and some customer proprietary network information, and after one incident completed unauthorized port-outs. TracFone agreed to pay a $16 million civil penalty and implement an information security compliance plan, and admitted the facts described in the consent decree, making no other admissions.⁠[13][13][13][13][13][13][13]

On September 4, 2024, Verizon signed a merger agreement to acquire broadband company Frontier Communications Parent for $38.50 per share in cash, which Frontier shareholders approved that November. The same month, Verizon learned that it was one of several telecommunications companies attacked by the nation-state hacking group Salt Typhoon; the company said the attackers accessed portions of its network in a narrowly focused effort to obtain information about a limited number of individuals primarily involved in government or political activity, and that the attack was contained.⁠[14][14][14][14][14]

In December 2024, Verizon completed a transaction with Vertical Bridge REIT, which obtained exclusive rights to lease, operate and manage more than 6,000 Verizon wireless towers for an upfront payment of $2.8 billion. Earlier, on October 17, 2024, Verizon agreed to acquire select spectrum licenses of United States Cellular (now Array Digital Infrastructure) for $1.0 billion, a deal completed on June 1, 2026.⁠[15][15][15][16]

On Verizon’s 25th anniversary on June 30, 2025, then-CEO Hans Vestberg said the company had more than 150 million wireless and broadband connections, had invested nearly $200 billion in the United States over the previous seven years, and expected its fiber footprint to exceed 25 million households after closing the Frontier acquisition.⁠[17][17][17]

On October 6, 2025, Verizon’s board appointed Independent Lead Director and former PayPalPayPalPayPal Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) is an American digital payments company that operates payment brands including PayPal, Venmo, Braintree, and Xoom, providing online and in-store payments, money transfers, and consumer credit to consumers and merchants worldwide.Open the full entry CEO Dan Schulman as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, and elected Mark Bertolini as Chairman; Hans Vestberg became Special Advisor through October 4, 2026, focusing on the transition and the Frontier integration, and remained on the board until the 2026 Annual Meeting. Chairman Bertolini said the board and Vestberg agreed that the approaching close of the Frontier deal was the right time for the transition. Schulman, a Verizon director since 2018 who had held senior roles at AT&T, Priceline, Virgin Mobile and American Express, said Verizon was at a critical juncture and that it would work to regain its leadership across mobility and broadband.⁠[18][18][18][18][18][18][18][18]

On January 20, 2026, Verizon completed its acquisition of Frontier, paying approximately $9.4 billion in cash at closing (net of cash acquired) and assuming debt with a fair value of approximately $12.9 billion; the deal expanded its fiber broadband footprint to 31 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. On January 30 it completed the acquisition of Starry, a fixed wireless broadband provider serving multi-dwelling units in five markets.⁠[15][16][16][15]

On May 14, 2026, Verizon reached an agreement in principle with AT&T and T-MobileT-MobileT-Mobile (T-Mobile US, Inc.) is one of the major U.S. wireless carriers, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, and Overland Park, Kansas, and controlled by Deutsche Telekom. Its predecessor was VoiceStream Wireless, founded in 1994; it listed on Nasdaq after combining with MetroPCS in 2013 and merged with Sprint in 2020.Open the full entry to form a new joint venture that would pool limited spectrum resources to eliminate wireless dead zones in the United States, including rural areas, through satellite direct-to-device technology. On October 1, the three signed the joint venture agreement, naming Paul Roth, a former executive at AT&T, Cingular Wireless and Ameritech, as interim CEO; the venture is managed by a board with representatives of all three partners, and each carrier’s existing satellite agreements remain in place.⁠[16][19][19][19][19]

In June 2026, the FCC concluded Auction 113 for AWS-3 spectrum; Verizon won 82 licenses valued at approximately $3.2 billion and made additional payments of approximately $3.1 billion in July. On June 28, Verizon signed an agreement with Britain’s BT Group under which each will hold 50% of a new company, Jasper NewCo: Verizon will contribute its international wireline connectivity and managed network services business plus a $625 million cash payment, and BT will contribute its comparable business; the deal is subject to regulatory approvals, and Verizon recorded a $746 million pre-tax loss on disposition in the second quarter.⁠[16][16][16][16][16][16]

On October 8, 2026, SpaceX announced an agreement with Grain Management to acquire a nationwide portfolio of 800 MHz low-band spectrum for Starlink Mobile; after the news, shares of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon each fell about 6% in after-hours trading.⁠[20][20]

Verizon is a holding company operating through subsidiaries, with two reportable segments, Verizon Consumer Group and Verizon Business Group. In 2025, the Consumer segment had revenues of $106.8 billion, about 77% of consolidated revenues, and ended the year with approximately 116 million wireless retail connections and about 11 million broadband connections; the Business segment had revenues of $29.1 billion, about 21%. The company holds 700 MHz, 850 MHz, PCS, AWS, C-Band and millimeter-wave spectrum and had approximately 89,900 full-time-equivalent employees at the end of 2025, 89% of them in the United States.⁠[15][15][15][15][15][15][15]

As of October 2026, Dan Schulman is Chief Executive Officer. Verizon had revenues of $138.2 billion in 2025 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol VZ; as of June 30, 2026, it had approximately 147 million wireless retail connections and 17.1 million fixed wireless access and fiber broadband connections. Its corporate headquarters is at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, and its operational headquarters is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.⁠[21][21][21][21][21]

Verizon: Official website: https://www.verizon.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[22]

X: Public account: https://x.com/verizon (opens in a new window)⁠[21]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/verizon/ (opens in a new window)⁠[21]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/verizon (opens in a new window)⁠[21]