User:VZBob/Verizon Wireless History

History
In September 1999, American phone company Bell Atlantic and U.K.-based Vodafone Airtouch PLC announced they would create a new wireless phone service joint venture valued at $70 billion in September 1999. The joint venture was being created as Bell Atlantic underwent a merger with GTE Corporation. In April 2000, the companies announced that the Bell Atlantic-GTE merger would take the name Verizon and that the Bell Atlantic-Vodafone wireless unit would be called Verizon Wireless. Verizon Communications owned 55 percent of Verizon Wireless while Vodafone retained 45 percent ownership. Regulators with the Federal Communications Commission approved the Bell Atlantic-GTE merger June 16, 2000, creating the largest wireless company in the U.S. Verizon Wireless held this market position until Cingular acquired AT&T in 2004.

Throughout the 2000s, Verizon acquired several wireless phone companies and assets across the country, including West Virginia Wireless in 2006; Ramcell in 2007; Rural Cellular Corporation and SureWest Communications, both in 2008. Also in 2008, Verizon struck a deal to buy Alltel for $5.9 billion in equity while assuming $22.2 billion worth of debt. The deal finalized January 9, 2009, again making Verizon Wireless the country's biggest cellphone network. As per the agreement, Verizon sold rural wireless properties across 18 states to AT&T. Those properties were in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Verizon's acquisitions continued in the 2010s, including the purchases of some Plateau Wireless markets in 2012 and Golden State Cellular's operator in 2014.

Majority owner Verizon Communications became sole owner of its wireless business in 2014, when it bought Vodafone's 45 percent stake. Vodafone received $58.9 billion cash, $60.2 billion in stock and $11 billion in other transactions. An article in The New York Times estimated Verizon Wireless' valuation at about $290 billion.

A November 2014 story in The Washington Post reported that Verizon Wireless used "supercookies" to track its mobile customers on the Web for targeted advertisements. After facing criticism for the practice, Verizon Wireless announced in January 2015 that customers could opt-out of the program.