Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. is an American telecom company based in New York City. As of March 31, 2026, it operates the largest wireless network in the United States, with 146.8 million subscribers, and ranks as the world’s second-largest telecom company by revenue. The company was created on June 30, 2000, through the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE.

Bell Atlantic began as one of the original Baby Bells after the breakup of the Bell System in 1984. Its initial operating companies included The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, New Jersey Bell, Diamond State Telephone, and C&P Telephone (which itself had four subsidiaries). Bell Atlantic was originally based in Philadelphia and served Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 1997, it merged with fellow Baby Bell NYNEX, gaining a presence in New York and New England. Although Bell Atlantic was the surviving company, it moved its headquarters to NYNEX’s former offices in New York City. In 2000, Bell Atlantic merged with GTE, a company that operated telecom services across most of the rest of the country.

Before the merger was finalized, Bell Atlantic and the British company Vodafone formed Verizon Wireless in April 2000 as a joint venture. Vodafone owned 45% of the venture, and Bell Atlantic owned 55%. The deal, valued at about $70 billion, combined Bell Atlantic’s wireless network, Vodafone’s AirTouch and PrimeCo holdings, and GTE’s wireless division, creating a mobile carrier with 23 million customers. The size of the new network allowed Verizon Wireless to offer national coverage at competitive rates, an advantage over regional providers at the time.

The FCC approved the Bell Atlantic–GTE merger in June 2000, nearly two years after the deal was first proposed in July 1998. The name “Verizon” combines the Latin word *veritas* (truth) and “horizon.” The approval came with 25 conditions aimed at preserving competition, including requirements to invest in new markets and broadband. The new company was led by co-CEOs Charles Lee, former CEO of GTE, and Bell Atlantic CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Verizon became the largest local phone company in the U.S., with 63 million telephone lines across 40 states and 25 million mobile customers. It also offered internet and long-distance services, starting in New York.

In August 2000, about 85,000 Verizon workers went on an 18-day strike after union contracts expired. The strike hurt quarterly revenue, delayed an initial public offering for Verizon Wireless (which was later canceled in 2003 due to increased profits), and created a backlog of repairs. Not all employees were affected, as most line and user technicians were union members.

Verizon launched 3G service in 2002, doubling internet speeds to 144 kilobits per second. In August 2002, it began bundling local, long-distance, mobile, and internet services, initially only in New York and Massachusetts.

In April 2004, Verizon was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing AT&T. That same year, it launched Fios internet service, which uses fiber optic cables, in Keller, Texas. Fios TV followed in September 2005, also in Keller. By the end of 2004, 20% of eligible homes had signed up for Fios. By January 2006, the service offered over 350 channels in seven states, including 20 high-definition channels and video on demand.

In December 2004, Verizon configured its mail servers to block connections from Europe by default, aiming to reduce spam originating from that region. Individual domains could be unblocked on request.

In 2015, Verizon expanded into content ownership by acquiring AOL, and in 2017 it bought Yahoo! Inc. The two were combined into a division called Oath Inc., which was rebranded as Verizon Media in January 2019. That division was later sold to Apollo Global Management and renamed Yahoo! Inc.

As of 2026, Verizon is one of three remaining companies with roots in the former Baby Bells. The other two also resulted from mergers among Baby Bells: SBC Communications bought the original AT&T and adopted its name, while CenturyLink acquired Qwest (formerly US West) in 2011 and renamed itself Lumen Technologies in 2020.