User:VZBob/Verizon Wireless introduction

Verizon Wireless (legally named Cellco Partnership, often branded and referred to as Verizon) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications offering telecommunications products and services. With 140.1 million subscribers, as of January 2016, Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States.

The company is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. It was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of American telecommunications firm Bell Atlantic, which would soon become Verizon Communications, and British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone. Verizon Communications became sole owner in 2014 by buying Vodafone's 45-percent stake in the company.

The company operates a national 4G LTE network covering about 97 percent of the U.S., which in December 2015 won or tied for top honors in each category of the RootMetrics RootScore Reports. Verizon Wireless offers mobile phone services through a variety of devices. Its LTE in Rural America Program, with 21 rural wireless carriers participating, covers 2.7 million potential users in 169 rural counties. Verizon Wireless announced in 2015 that it was developing a 5G, or fifth generation, network.