Verizon (wireless service)

Verizon
FormerlyVerizon Wireless
Company typeDivision
IndustryTelecommunications
Predecessor
FoundedApril 4, 2000 (2000-04-04) in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S. (as Verizon Wireless)
Founders
Headquarters,
U.S.
Number of locations
2,330 owned retail stores
Area served
United States
Key people
Hans Vestberg (CEO, Verizon Communications)
Services
ParentVerizon Communications
DivisionsTracFone Wireless
Visible by Verizon
Websiteverizon.com
Footnotes / references

Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divisions Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business, and stopped using the Verizon Wireless name. Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, with 146 million subscribers as of March 31, 2025. It currently has the second-largest network in the United States with their LTE network covering 2.68 million sq. miles of 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 the sole owner in 2014 after buying Vodafone's 45-percent stake in the company.

It operates national 5G and 4G LTE networks covering about 99 percent of the U.S. population, which in the first half of 2024 won top honors in five out of eight categories of the RootMetrics RootScore Reports, along with the most awards in both state and metro testing. Notably, Verizon won the United States Overall and Data RootScore Awards outright, along with outright wins for accessibility and video performance. 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. In 2020, 230 million people were able to access Verizon's 5G, or fifth-generation, dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology network; by 2024, 250 million people were covered by Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network.