Talk:Verizon/Archive 4

History request 1
History is due for a refresh, as Verizon's early history is missing important context, some minor details are given too much prominence, major initiatives are missing, and much of the section is written in proseline, especially from 2003 forward. I prepared an updated draft and uploaded it to my user space. However, it's a lengthy draft, so I decided I would begin by asking editors to review my updates in chunks. However, if editors want to review it all at once, it's all there in my user space. For this specific edit request, I will focus on Bell Atlantic. In my draft, I did the following: I propose:
 * I rewrote the introductory sentences to give context on the dissolution of the Bell System and Regional Bell Operating Companies (with wikilinks for readers who want more information).
 * I deleted the original roster of operating companies, as the sources used do not explicitly state that these operating companies were part of the original roster; however, sources do verify the areas in which Bell Atlantic operated, so I kept those. I am trying to tighten up the article where possible and limit redundant information.
 * I removed a redlink
 * I added context to the NYNEX merger
 * I cleaned up some unclear language (variation of the word "it" appears three times in the first six words of a sentence) by replacing "When it merged, it moved its corporate headquarters from Philadelphia to New York City" with "Following the merger, the corporate headquarters moved from Philadelphia to New York City".
 * I switched the section header from "Bell Atlantic (1983-2000)" to "1983-2000: Bell Atlantic". While I am not sure there is a "right" way to structure these headers, I have seen more instances where the year leads the subsection header.
 * 1983–2000: Bell Atlantic


 * Bell Atlantic Corporation was created following the dissolution of the Bell system. It was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies created following the decision in United States v. AT&T to break up the Bell System. Bell Atlantic originally operated in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.


 * In 1996, chairman and CEO Raymond W. Smith orchestrated Bell Atlantic's merger with NYNEX. At the time, it was the second-largest merger in American corporate history. Following the merger, the corporate headquarters moved from Philadelphia to New York City. NYNEX was consolidated into this name by 1997.

As I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, I ask others to look at my draft and make edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 16:23, 15 November 2022 (UTC)


 * I oppose any change that removes the list of local Bell companies assigned to Bell Atlantic in the Bell System divesture. That's not a minor detail. The additional links are actually redundant to the lead. But that said, the details belong in the body, not the lead. I'll make some changes, but not quite the way you propose. oknazevad (talk) 00:51, 22 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for reviewing this request and updating the info on Bell Atlantic. I understand your reasoning, and your edits look good to me. I'll post my next request, to update the Merger of equals (2000–2002), below. VZEric (talk) 20:22, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Executives update
Executives is outdated, as Manon Brouillette resigned from Verizon and is no longer executive vice president and group CEO of Verizon Consumer (reporting by Bloomberg confirms the resignation), and Sowmyanarayan Sampath now leads Verizon Business (Houston Chronicle confirms this). Would editors be willing to update Executives with the current leadership as of 2022:
 * As of 2022:
 * Hans Vestberg, chairman and CEO
 * Sowmyanarayan Sampath, executive vice president and group CEO, Verizon Business

I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, so I ask others to make edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 12:39, 8 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @VZEric ✅ Cheers Duke Gilmore (talk) 03:22, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I see you implemented these changes, thank you! I did notice that some coding got caught up in there, specifically the . Could this be deleted? Thanks for considering! VZEric (talk) 17:25, 16 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @VZEric Oops, fixed...thanks for letting knew. Duke Gilmore (talk) 21:07, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for fixing! It looks good. VZEric (talk) 14:20, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Executive team update
Hello editors! On March 3, 2023, Verizon announced a change in our executive team and now this article is outdated. In an effort to help the Wikipedia community have accurate information, I took the time to draft up what these changes are. In the Corporate governance section and Executives subsection, the following information is the most up-to-date:
 * As of 2023:
 * Hans Vestberg, chairman and CEO
 * Sowmyanarayan Sampath, head of Verizon Consumer
 * Kyle Malady, head of Verizon Business

I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, so I ask others to make edits on my behalf. Thank you VZEric (talk) 22:19, 3 March 2023 (UTC) VZEric (talk) 22:19, 3 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Hello, I noticed you went ahead and updated the executive team, thanks for considering that request! I also posted a similar request to the Verizon Business Talk page to update that article. Would you have the time to look at that one as well? Thanks! VZEric (talk) 17:59, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

History request 2
For this specific edit request to update History, I will focus on the Merger of equals (2000–2002) subsection. Mostly, the subsection in the live article is out of order, and there is a paragraph that is very specific about Verizon Wireless, and not necessarily important to the larger story of Verizon Communications. In my draft, I did the following:
 * Renamed the subsection "2000–2002: Mergers with GTE and Vodafone" to better reflect the content within the section, while also adding some specificity
 * Reorganized content so it is chronological, like most of the rest of the article. I did this by moving the material about Bell Atlantic and Vodafone forming a joint venture to the top, which preceded Bell Atlantic changing its name to Verizon, when the FCC approved its merger with GTE. Also, I moved the explanation of Verizon's name directly following the name change
 * Slightly changed the first sentence about the 18-day labor strike only to help reduce proseline from the article
 * Deleted the paragraph beginning, "During its first operational year…", which is specific to Verizon Wireless, and is less meaningful in an article about Verizon Communications as a whole in 2022.


 * 2000–2002: Mergers with GTE and Vodafone
 * [[Image:Verizon Logo.svg|thumb|Verizon's former logo used from May 19, 1998, to September 1, 2015]]


 * Two months before the FCC gave final approval on the formation of Verizon Communications, Bell Atlantic formed Verizon Wireless in a joint venture with the British telecommunications company Vodafone in April 2000.  The companies established Verizon Wireless as its own business operated by Bell Atlantic, which owned 55% of the venture. Vodafone retained 45% of the company. The deal was valued at approximately $70 billion and created a mobile carrier with 23 million customers.  Verizon Wireless merged Bell Atlantic's wireless network, Vodafone's AirTouch and PrimeCo holdings, and the wireless division of GTE.  Due to its size, Verizon Wireless was able to offer national coverage at competitive rates, giving it an advantage over regional providers typical of the time.


 * Bell Atlantic changed its name to Verizon Communications in June 2000, when the Federal Communications Commission approved the US$64.7 billion merger with telephone company GTE, nearly two years after the deal was proposed in July 1998. The name Verizon derives from the combination of the words veritas, Latin for truth, and horizon.


 * The approval came with 25 stipulations to preserve competition between local phone carriers, including investing in new markets and broadband technologies. The new entity was headed by co-CEOs Charles Lee, former CEO of GTE, and Bell Atlantic CEO Ivan Seidenberg.


 * Verizon became the largest local telephone company in the United States, operating 63 million telephone lines in 40 states. The company also inherited 25 million mobile phone customers. Additionally, Verizon offered internet services and long-distance calling in New York, before expanding long-distance operations to other states.


 * Approximately 85,000 Verizon workers went on an 18-day labor strike in August 2000 after their union contracts expired. The strike affected quarterly revenues, resulting in Verizon Wireless' postponement of the company's initial public offering (IPO) (the IPO was ultimately cancelled in 2003 because the company no longer needed to raise revenue for Verizon Wireless due to increased profits), and created a backlog of repairs. This strike did not involve all company employees, as mostly line technicians and user technicians of the company are union.


 * Verizon launched 3G service in 2002, which doubled the Internet speed of the time to 144kb per second. In August 2002, Verizon began offering local, long-distance and mobile calling, as well as Internet service, in a bundle. It was initially only available to customers in New York and Massachusetts.

As I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, I ask others to look at my draft and make edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 20:22, 2 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Yellow check.svg Partly done: I'm immediately doing part of this request without looking much into it and that is changing the name of the subsection from "Merger of equals" to "Mergers with GTE and Vodafone" since that's much more neutral. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 22:12, 2 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Pictogram voting comment.svg Note: I've looked through it and it seems good to me, however with this big of a change I like to get a second opinion so I'll see if I can get someone else to take a look at it as well. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 14:09, 3 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello,, thanks for changing the name of the subsection. I will eagerly await to see if we get any other opinions. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 15:05, 8 February 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅. Due to the reordering, Federal Communications Commission's acronym appeared before its expanded version. I've adjusted that while implementing the request. Best, Ptrnext (talk) 05:25, 7 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks! VZEric (talk) 18:00, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

History request 3
Continuing with my efforts to improve the History section, I am now focusing on updating the information in the 2003–2005, MCI acquisition, 2006–2010, and Selling wirelines (2005–2010 & 2015) subsections. In my user space draft (diff), editors will see that I have proposed combining these into one subsection called "2003–2010: Early expansion" or "Early expansion (2003–2010)", as this new title encapsulates these subsections more succinctly. Other proposed improvements include:
 * Copy edits throughout to alleviate WP:PROSELINE
 * Removing the sentence about customers being able to take their phone numbers with them across carriers. This just doesn't seem significant enough for an encyclopedia article
 * Removing "On December 22, 2004, mail servers at Verizon.net were configured not to accept connections from Europe by default in an attempt to reduce spam email that was originating from the region. Individual domains would only be unblocked upon request." This detail appears rather minor and doesn't seem significant enough for an encyclopedia
 * Deleting "In 2005, Verizon launched VCast, a multimedia service that allowed people to download apps, music, ringtones, and videos." This doesn't feel significant enough for an encyclopedia article
 * Adding context on Verizon's moves to sell a number of its U.S.-based wireline-focused businesses and international assets and invest more in its wireless business
 * Correcting the date the FCC approved Verizon's MCI acquisition
 * Removing "In February 2007, Verizon added a new service to V Cast called V Cast Mobile TV, which took advantage of Verizon's multiple cellular technologies (such as EV-DO) allowing people with high-end devices to watch TV on their device." This language could be considered promotional, and not significant enough for an encyclopedia article
 * Adding the 2008 acquisition of Rural Cellular Corp
 * Moving information on overcharges to fit chronologically

2003–2010: Early expansion The Dow Jones Industrial Average added Verizon Communications to its stock market index in April 2004. Verizon replaced telecom competitor AT&T, which had been a part of the index since the Great Depression. Verizon launched its Fios Internet service, which transmits data over fiber optic cables, in Keller, Texas, in 2004. The company launched Fios TV in September 2005, also in Keller. Twenty percent of qualified homes had signed up by the end of 2004. By January 2006, Fios offered over 350 channels in eight states, including 20 high-definition television channels and video on demand. Beginning in 2005, Verizon reinforced its focus on its mobile phone, Internet, and TV businesses by selling a number of its U.S.-based wireline-focused businesses and international assets. It sold 700,000 lines in Hawaii in 2005, and spun off lines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in January 2007, which were then purchased by FairPoint Communications for $2.72 billion. Verizon also shed its telephone directory business in 2006. In May 2009, the company spun off wirelines in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin into a company that then merged with Frontier Communications in a deal valued at $8.6 billion. It sold its interests in telecommunications providers in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela América Móvil. A decade later, it would continue moves to invest in wireless. In 2015, American Tower Corp. acquired the exclusive right to lease, acquire or otherwise operate and manage many of Verizon’s wireless towers for an upfront payment of $5.1 billion, which also included payment for the sale of approximately 165 towers. Verizon used the funds from this sale to support a $10.4 billion purchase of AWS-3 spectrum licenses at an FCC auction. In 2016, Verizon sold its wireline operations in Texas, Florida, and California to Frontier. Verizon began negotiations in 2005 to purchase long-distance carrier MCI, who accepted the company's initial $6.75 billion offer in February but then received a higher offer from Qwest Communications. Verizon increased its bid to $7.6 billion (or $23.50 a share), which MCI accepted on March 29, 2005. The acquisition gave the company access to MCI's 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 business and government customers. The FCC approved the deal on October 31, 2005, valuing it at $8.5 billion. Verizon's 2006 revenues rose by as much as 20% following the purchase. USA Today reported in May 2006 that Verizon, as well as AT&T and BellSouth, had given the National Security Agency landline phone records following the September 11 attacks. That same month, a $50 billion lawsuit was filed by two lawyers on behalf of all Verizon subscribers for privacy violations and to prevent the company from releasing additional records without consent or warrant. Protesters staged the National Day of Out(R)age due in part to the controversy. In 2007, Verizon stated that it fulfilled only "lawful demands" for information, but also acknowledged surrendering customer information to government agencies without court orders or warrants 720 times between 2005 and 2007. Verizon won a lawsuit against Vonage for patent infringement in March 2007. The three patents named were filed by Bell Atlantic in 1997, and relate to the conversion of IP addresses into phone numbers, a key technology of Vonage's business. The company was awarded US$58 million in damages and future royalties. Vonage later lost an appeal and was ordered to pay Verizon $120 million. In May 2007, Verizon acquired Cybertrust, a privately held provider of global information security services. In September 2007, Verizon Wireless reversed a controversial decision to deny NARAL Pro-Choice America a short code through which the organization could text consumers who had signed up for messaging from the group. The company had initially refused the group access to a code by reserving the right to block "controversial or unsavory" messages. Verizon opened its networks to third party apps and devices for the first time in 2007, a decision that allowed it to participate in the FCC's 2008 700 MHz auction of "open access" spectrum. During that auction, the company bid $9.4 billion and won the bulk of national and local licenses for airwaves reaching approximately 469 million people. Verizon utilized the increased spectrum for its 4G service. Verizon acquired Rural Cellular Corp. for $2.7 billion in cash and assumed debt in 2008. That summer, Verizon announced it would purchase wireless carrier Alltel for $28.1 billion. The acquisition included 13 million customers, which allowed Verizon Wireless to surpass AT&T in number of customers and reach new markets in rural areas. 4chan began receiving reports on February 4, 2010, from Verizon Wireless customers that were having difficulties accessing the site's image boards. Administrators of the site found that only traffic on port 80 to the boards.4chan.org domain was affected, leading them to believe the block was intentional. On February 7, 2010, Verizon Wireless confirmed that 4chan.org was "explicitly blocked" after Verizon's security and external experts detected sweep attacks coming from an IP address associated with the 4chan network. Traffic was restored several days later. The chairmen of Verizon and Google agreed that network neutrality should be defined and limited in August 2010. In October 2010, Verizon Wireless paid $77.8 million in refunds and FCC penalties for overcharging 15 million customers for data services. The company stated the overcharges were accidental and only amounted to a few dollars per customer. Verizon introduced its 4G LTE network in 38 markets, as well as airports in seven additional cities in December 2010. The company planned on a three-year continuous expansion of the 4G service.

As I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, I ask others to look at my draft and make edits on my behalf. Given your recent interest in this article I would like to notify you of these proposed improvements. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 13:28, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ However, I added back and expanded on the Europe email embargo controversy, as I find it significant for its inclusion here. Thanks, Ptrnext (talk) 23:50, 22 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the assistance! VZEric (talk) 21:05, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

Removal of word "multinational" from article
I noticed that an edit took place on April 29 where editor CaribDigita removed the word "multinational" from the introduction of the article. May I suggest the word be re-added? Verizon Business, a division of Verizon, does have operations internationally. This recent article from April 23 shows Verizon's recent operations in India, with a mention of Verizon's general operation in the Asia Pacific region. I would be happy to discuss this topic more or seek more sources if needed. As I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, I ask others to look at my draft and make edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 14:13, 11 May 2023 (UTC)


 * I'm changing it back. I had not heard of a Verizon Global Enterprise before. CaribDigita (talk) 15:12, 11 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you! VZEric (talk) 17:36, 11 May 2023 (UTC)