Verizon

"Anti-Competitive and Anti-Consumer"; Criticizes Verizon Wireless plan to double Early Termination Fees for new smart phone customers

November 9, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who introduced the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act in the 110th Congress, sent a letter to the Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell C. McAdam, criticizing the company’s decision to increase its Early Termination Fees (ETFs) for new smart phone customers. Klobuchar also sent a letter to Federal Communications Chairman (FCC) Julius Genachowski, urging a review of the Verizon Wireless decision to raise these fees.    » read more »

10/19/09 - Rep. Peter Welch called on Congress this week to close a loophole that allowed Verizon to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes when it sold its northern New England landline operations to FairPoint Communications.

In a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, Welch and representatives from New Hampshire and Maine said that Verizon's use of the Reverse Morris Trust (RMT) provision in the federal tax code cost taxpayers without delivering any corresponding public benefit.

As Verizon prepares to spin-off other landline operations throughout the country using the RMT loophole, Welch and his House colleagues warned that other regions could face problems similar to those experienced by FairPoint's northern New England customers since the sale.    » read more »

Boundary Protection and Virtual Private Networking Capability to Be Provided Under $5 Million Deal

ASHBURN, Va. – October 19, 2009 – Verizon Business will help the NATO Command, Control and Communications Agency (NC3A) strengthen NATO's network security with a package of networking and security services.

Under a new deal valued at about $5 million covering two years and an optional one-year extension, Verizon Business through Verizon Cybertrust Security in Belgium will implement a highly resilient virtual private network for approximately 30 locations on the agency's existing network. The company will provide secure gateways to and from the Internet as well as the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) encryption for users on the network.    » read more »

New York, NY – June 23, 2009 – Verizon's latest corporate responsibility report highlights how the company is using its technology, resources and employees to address societal challenges such as improving health care, increasing energy efficiency and conservation, and playing a role in the recovery of the nation's economy.

The recently released, 53-page report features a letter from Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg in which he explains that the company's sustained history of corporate citizenship has been nourished by a belief that providing better ways to communicate is inherently valuable to society.    » read more »

Company's Proposal Focuses on Access, Demand and Adoption

June 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Verizon on Monday (June 8) submitted its suggestions for the national broadband plan called for by Congress and President Obama. The suggestions are contained in a detailed, 10-point proposal filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

"Verizon looks forward to working with policymakers and other stakeholders in developing broadband policies that will ensure broadband availability to all Americans, encourage widespread adoption of broadband services, and empower consumers to make their own choices," Verizon said in its filing.

The FCC is assembling recommendations for Congress to consider for the plan, which is due in February 2010.    » read more »

Preparation Makes Recovery Easier; Communications, 'Battening Down' and Surging Back to Action Drive Service Ethic

June 4, 2009 -- NEW YORK - As Verizon network personnel track, plan for, battle and oversee recovery from storms this hurricane season, they'll use a dynamic tool that capitalizes on more than a century and a quarter of experience fighting storms: an updated checklist that codifies years of lessons learned, is timed to match a storm's progress, and targeted to specific work groups.    » read more »

June 4, 2009 -- NEW YORK - The Board of Directors of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) today declared a quarterly dividend of 46 cents per outstanding share, unchanged from the previous quarter.

The dividend is payable on Aug. 3, to Verizon Communications shareowners of record at the close of business on July 10.

In 2008, the company paid dividends totaling $5.0 billion. Verizon has approximately 2.4 million shareowners and approximately 2.8 billion shares of common stock outstanding.

Source: Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Distribution Agreement Expands Reach to Global Enterprise Customers; Enhances Verizon's Procurement Model

June 4, 2009 -- BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business is expanding its single-source capabilities for deploying customer premises equipment (CPE) and related support services to aid large-business and government customers in building and managing global networks.    » read more »

May 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - The White House today released the Cyberspace Policy Review, summarizing the findings of input from industry, academia, liberty and privacy communities, state governments, international partners, and the legislative and executive branches. The following statement should be attributed to Peter Davidson, Verizon senior vice president of federal government relations:

"The White House Cyberspace Policy Review outlines the way to strengthen the digital infrastructure that all Americans depend upon. President Obama and his administration recognize the key role that industry will have in working with the government to ensure a secure, reliable and trustworthy cyber infrastructure.    » read more »

Company Cites Denial of Consumer Choice

May 28, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Armed with a new federal court ruling that further strengthens the legal basis for action, Verizon is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to act promptly to stop incumbent cable television companies from illegally denying competitive video providers access to "must have" regional sports programming.

In a filing with the FCC on Thursday (May 28), Verizon told the commission that "the cable incumbents' documented history of abusing their control of regional sports networks and other regional sports programming to deny consumers a meaningful competitive choice is a real and ongoing problem that must be addressed."    » read more »

Field Trial With JANET Moves High Bandwidth Optical Service Closer to Commercial Deployment

May 27, 2009 -- BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business has completed a successful trial of 100G optical service with JANET, the United Kingdom's National Research and Education Network.

The field trial, completed in April, is the latest in a series of successful trials conducted by Verizon, which is aggressively working with major equipment suppliers toward 100G commercial deployment. Typical optical carrier network speeds are 10G and 40G.    » read more »

State-of-the-Art, 51-Foot Rig Joins Company's Large Disaster-Recovery Fleet

May 14, 2009 -- BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business has introduced a new 51-foot mobile command center equipped with the latest highly sophisticated communications equipment. The big rig also provides ample space for company employees, public officials and other emergency responders during natural disasters or human-caused events that affect Verizon's communications network in the U.S.    » read more »

Sales of Verizon Wireless, FiOS Internet and TV, and Strategic Business Services Show Continued Strength

April 27, 2009 -- 1Q 2009 HIGHLIGHTS

Consolidated Results

* 58 cents in EPS and 63 cents in adjusted EPS (non-GAAP), compared with 1Q 2008 EPS of 57 cents and 61 cents, respectively.
* $6.4 billion in cash flows from operations, up $1.0 billion, or 19.1 percent, year over year.
* Capital expenditures totaled $3.7 billion; free cash flow totaled $2.7 billion, up $1.5 billion.

Wireless

* 86.6 million total customers, up 28.8 percent; 84.1 million retail customers, up 29.0 percent; 1.3 million net customer additions, excluding acquisitions and adjustments, almost all retail.    » read more »

Equivalent of Taking More Than 55,500 Cars off the Road; The Nation's Largest Fuel Cell Site, Green Purchasing Practices, PC- and Fleet-Efficiency Initiatives Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 303,000 Metric Tons

April 17, 2009 -- NEW YORK - Verizon's conservation efforts in 2008 alone reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 303,000 metric tons, the equivalent of taking more than 55,500 cars off the road.    » read more »

Financial Industry Accounts for 93 Percent of 285 Million Compromised Records; Most Breaches Avoidable if Proper Precautions Taken

April 15, 2009 -- BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - More electronic records were breached in 2008 than the previous four years combined, fueled by a targeting of the financial services industry and a strong involvement of organized crime, according to the "2009 Verizon Business Data Breach Investigations Report" (DBIR) released Wednesday (April 15).    » read more »