Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications is a local exchange telephone company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VZ and were made a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average on April 8, 2004. Verizon currently has 140.3 million land lines in service. It also has more than 16 million long distance customers. As of 2003, it has more than 203,000 employees.
Verizon serves customers throughout much of the United States. The states that it provides service to include California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone in which Verizon owns a majority interest, is the number one mobile phone service provider in the United States.
