Alltel was a landline , wireless and general telecommunications services provider , primarily based in the United States. Before its wireless division was acquired by Verizon Wireless and AT&T , Alltel provided cellular service to 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition by Verizon, a small portion of Alltel was spun off and continued to operate under the same name in six states, mostly in rural areas. Following the merger, Alltel remained the ninth largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States, with approximately 800,000 customers. On January 22, 2013, AT&T announced they were acquiring what remained of Alltel from Atlantic Tele-Network for $ 780 million in cash.
48-591: At its peak, Alltel operated a network in 34 states, with a wireless coverage footprint comprising the largest network in the United States by area. The company focused on small to medium size cities providing wireless services to residential and business customers in all 50 states through roaming agreements with Verizon and Sprint . These agreements gave Alltel customers access to nationwide service, while providing those carriers coverage in rural areas. On June 5, 2008, Verizon Wireless announced it would acquire
96-556: A bowling alley . The third commercial took place in a court room, with the faces of the other carriers blurred. In "The Century's Trial of the Century", Edward Maxwell Von Houten, attorney for the People Against My Circle Foundation, sued Chad for attempting to force people into calling circles. After that, Alltel started a series of commercials involving Chad, bragging about Alltel's service and using
144-413: 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
192-478: A 10% interest in Yahoo! . The service was shut down on August 31, 2021, in favor of Visible. On November 23, 2021, Verizon purchased TracFone Wireless which was worth an approximately $ 6.25 billion. On September 30, 2024, after a massive outage, Verizon confirmed that its cell service was back online. Verizon Wireless operates 5G and 4G LTE networks. As of January 2020 , Verizon claims that 99% of
240-552: A 4G LTE Broadband Router with Voice that can connect up to 10 devices over Wi-Fi as well as home phone service. This service and device have since been discontinued. The LTE in Rural America Program (or LRA program), introduced in May 2010, covers 2.7 million potential users over 225,000 square miles (580,000 km ) in 169 rural counties. Under this program, partners lease spectrum from Verizon Wireless and connect to
288-631: A Wi-Fi network. As of August 2015 , nearly 4 million of Verizon's 103.7 million subscribers used VoLTE. In 2019, Verizon announced that they plan to shut down their CDMA2000 network by the end of 2020, making VoLTE the only way to make calls on their network. In September 2015, Verizon's chief information and technology architect Roger Gurnani stated that Verizon was planning to trial a 5G wireless network within 12 months, with "some level of commercial deployment" by 2017. In late August 2016, Verizon officially announced that it had rolled out LTE Advanced services in 461 markets. The company promoted that
336-468: A company policy of removing these restrictions during emergency situations. In 2019, Verizon Wireless services were split between two new divisions: Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business . The name "Wireless" was extinguished, rebranding the mobile network as simply Verizon. Verizon still often abbreviates their name to "VZW", with the W standing for Wireless. In 2020 Verizon launched a prepaid mobile phone service named Yahoo! Mobile after acquiring
384-438: A customer-unique ID field ("X-UIDH") into all unencrypted HTTP headers. The mechanism has been referred to as a " supercookie " or "perma-cookie", although it is technically not a cookie in that it does not store information on the customers device and is transparent to the user. It cannot be averted with common mechanisms like ad-blockers; however it cannot be inserted into encrypted HTTPS and VPN connections. Verizon advertises
432-437: A deal that also granted the carrier title sponsorship of the series, Verizon subscribers also have access to exclusive streaming content within the official IndyCar Series app. The My Verizon app is used for account management, including checking usage statistics and managing the user's service plan and account features. Verizon Cloud, which allows photos, videos, contacts, messages and call logs to be synchronized online,
480-599: A deal to buy Alltel for $ 5.9 billion in equity while assuming $ 22.2 billion worth of debt. The deal was finalized on January 9, 2009, again making Verizon Wireless the country's largest cellphone network. As per the agreement, Verizon sold rural wireless properties across 18 states to AT&T. Those properties were in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. Verizon's acquisitions continued in
528-492: A last-minute decision to "indefinitely" halt the retirement. They later confirmed that the CDMA network will be retired on December 31, 2022. Verizon customers using a CDMA-only device, or an LTE device that does not support Voice over LTE , were required to upgrade to a newer device in order to continue using the network. The shutdown was completed at the end of 2022 as planned. A report by RootMetrics on carrier performance in
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#1732783662567576-657: A new wireless phone service joint venture valued at $ 70 billion. The joint venture was being created as Bell Atlantic underwent a merger with GTE Corporation . In April 2000, the companies announced that the Bell Atlantic–GTE merger would take the name Verizon and that the Bell Atlantic–Vodafone wireless unit would be called Verizon Wireless (legally Cellco Partnership d.b.a. Verizon Wireless). Verizon Communications owned 55 percent of Verizon Wireless while Vodafone retained 45 percent ownership. Regulators with
624-746: A storefront in the Hillcrest district of Little Rock. The business sold electrical appliances in the front of the building, and the company enabled Wilbourn and Miller to buy telephone equipment wholesale. Alltel's modern history begins in 1983 when Allied Telephone and Mid-Continent Telephone merged. Mid-Continent Telephone was originally a theatre company and started in 1931 by Eddie Ruben and Joe L. Floyd in Minnesota. In 1985, Alltel launched its first wireless system in Charlotte, North Carolina . In 1993, Alltel opened its first wireless retail store. In 1997,
672-587: A three phase turn down schedule in response to the FCC decision stating that by March 1, 2008 A and B side carriers are no longer required to support analog. The analog systems were retired by the end of 2008. While Alltel had not outlined its future path, merger partner Verizon Wireless had already announced plans to switch to GSM-based LTE . There were Alltel-owned and -operated networks in parts of 6 states . Alltel utilized roaming agreements with competing providers to provide coast-to-coast service. Roaming agreements in
720-606: A variety of devices. Verizon Wireless offers smartphones powered by Apple 's iOS and Google 's Android . Both its basic phones and smartphones use their 4G LTE or 5G network. The company offers different voice and data plans for its users. Introduced in February 2015 as Verizon Wireless Home Phone Connect, Wireless Home Phone uses Verizon's cellular network rather than using traditional landline wires to provide home phone service. Verizon Mobile network, branded as Jetpack. The company offered home Internet service through
768-486: A vehicle that was being used to coordinate responses to the Mendocino Complex Fire . The department reported that a Verizon Wireless customer service representative insisted that they must upgrade to a higher-cost data plan in order to restore their internet speed. In a statement, Verizon acknowledged that they did not properly explain the terms of the contract, and that the representative did not adhere to
816-713: A wider range than its mmWave 5G (henceforth branded by Verizon as "5G Ultra Wideband ") services, and is available to most existing Verizon subscribers with a supported device (unlike mmWave service, which requires one of the service's newer unlimited plans), but uses "dynamic spectrum sharing" with LTE service, and does not have the same level of speed as mmWave. As of December 2020, more than 200 million people were able to access Verizon’s 5G network through Verizon’s DSS -enabled service. As of April 2023, Verizon reached 200 million people covered for its Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband. Verizon intended to retire its 2G and 3G CDMA network in favor of LTE and 5G on January 1, 2021, but made
864-805: Is a subscription-based service and app can be used to track the locations of family members on a map for up to 10 devices. Verizon Family Base allows parents to restrict when and how their children use their phones, view their children's contacts and lock the devices. Verizon also offers the GizmoPal, a wristband-worn phone for children that is restricted to only placing or receiving calls from one of two designated caregivers, and has GPS tracking . Other Verizon Wireless apps include Field Force Manager, which allows employers to manage employees with GPS, management timesheets and oversee travel, Visual Voice Mail and Roadside Assistance. Verizon Wireless offers mobile phone, home telephone, and Internet services through
912-632: The Federal Communications Commission approved the Bell Atlantic–GTE merger on June 16, 2000, creating the largest wireless company in the United States. Verizon Wireless held this market position until Cingular Wireless acquired AT&T Wireless Services in 2004. Throughout the 2000s, Verizon acquired several wireless phone companies and assets across the country, including West Virginia Wireless in 2006; Ramcell in 2007; Rural Cellular Corporation and SureWest Communications , both in 2008. Also in 2008, Verizon struck
960-576: The Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. The campaign included a MySpace page , and Campbell-Ewald Digital created The Man Cave with its own web site . The fourth and fifth commercials features employees of other carriers' mall stores trying to convince Chad to end My Circle with $ 8.00. The sixth has Chad giving RAZRs as Christmas gifts to them. Since this service and advertising campaign started, other carriers started adding similar services. For example, T-Mobile introduced "My Faves" in
1008-590: The fall of 2006. In 2010, markets sold to Verizon Wireless aired a special commercial with both Chad and Paul Marcarelli as the real "Verizon Guy". Alltel and Chad produced a Christmas edition commercial later that year for remaining Alltel markets, featured at Longbranch Coffee House located in Carbondale, Illinois. Roaming Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
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#17327836625671056-642: The 2010s, including the purchases of some Plateau Wireless markets in 2012 and Golden State Cellular's operator in 2014. Majority owner Verizon Communications became sole owner of its wireless business in 2014, when it bought Vodafone's 45 percent stake. Vodafone received $ 58.9 billion cash, $ 60.2 billion in stock and $ 11 billion in other consideration. An article in The New York Times estimated Verizon Wireless' valuation at about $ 290 billion. In late 2014, it became known that Verizon Wireless uses deep packet inspection for server-side insertion of
1104-559: The AT&;T network by midyear 2014. The transition completed in February 2015 with all Alltel customers becoming a part of the AT&T network. In early 2016, AT&T dissolved Alltel Wireless. In 1943, the Allied Telephone Company , a small business specializing in installing telephone poles and cabling for telephone companies across Arkansas , was founded by Charles Miller and Hugh Willbourn, Jr. In 1945, they opened
1152-557: The NFL, only Verizon Wireless subscribers could stream NFL telecasts to devices with screens 7 inches (18 cm) or less in size. This contract ended after the 2017 NFL season ; Verizon agreed to a new five-year, non-exclusive digital rights agreement, which removes the device class exclusivity, and focuses more upon distributing its streams and other enhanced digital content via its portfolio of internet media brands , rather than being exclusive to Verizon Wireless subscribers. As part of
1200-447: The United States were primarily with Verizon and Sprint until the completion of the migration of all customers to the AT&T network. After Alltel's November 2004 announcement that Campbell-Ewald of Detroit would be their primary advertising agency, Alltel used lookalikes of rival cell phone companies' primary advertising characters along with Alltel's spokesman, played by comedian Chad Brokaw. After competing networks complained,
1248-441: The applications to be "bloatware" that are sometimes redundant to applications already included with the device's operating system. The NFL Mobile app allows Verizon Wireless subscribers to stream National Football League games and NFL Network on their devices. While previously a subscription-based service, NFL Mobile was made free to all subscribers beginning in the 2015 NFL season . As part of an exclusivity agreement with
1296-598: The company's wireless and wireline businesses were combined into a single organization. On December 9, 2005, Alltel announced that it would become a wireless-only company, simultaneously merging and building a spin-off company for its wireline services. The wireline services business of Alltel merged with Valor Telecom and was named Windstream Communications on April 10, 2006. The merger-spinoff process ended July 17, 2006 when Windstream began operations. On May 20, 2007, Alltel announced an agreement to be sold to two private-equity firms: TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners. Under
1344-408: The data-only LTE network. This also allows for simultaneous voice and data services, something that is unavailable on traditional CDMA2000 calls. Along with VoLTE, Verizon also announced support for HD Voice , which provides higher-quality audio for VoLTE calls, and native Video Calling for Android phones. In March 2016, Verizon enabled support for Wi-Fi Calling, which allows calls to be placed over
1392-702: The deal, the two firms paid $ 71.50 a share in cash, or $ 27.5 billion, a 10% premium over Alltel's May 18, 2007 closing price. 1990 1997 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2013 2016 Alltel's networks consisted of analog and digital systems operating primarily on the 850 MHz (3GPP2 Band Class 0) cellular band, much like Verizon Wireless . Native Alltel markets consisted of both analog ( AMPS ) and digital ( CDMA ) technologies. Virtually 100 percent of markets had been outfitted with 3G 1xEV-DO digital technology, which allows for additional battery life and faster download times when using Internet or BREW-based applications. Alltel posted
1440-422: The details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 934947185 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:47:42 GMT Verizon Wireless 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
1488-498: The emerging global standard. In December 2010, Verizon Wireless launched a fledgling 4G LTE network in 39 markets. By December 2011, only a year after launch, 200 million Americans were covered with 4G LTE, in 190 markets. As of 2016 , 98% of the U.S. was covered with LTE, and 92% of all data traffic was on LTE. In 2012, the service provider bought spectrum from the country's biggest cable companies, including Comcast , and Spectrum ( Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks at
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1536-704: The first half of 2024 ranked Verizon's network as the best in overall national performance, network accessibility, data performance, video performance, and tied for best text performance. The following is a list of 4G LTE and 5G NR frequency bands which Verizon employs in the United States. Verizon's CDMA network was shut down on December 31, 2022. The following chart lists the networks that Verizon previously operated. Verizon Wireless offers certain applications and services that are exclusive to its subscribers. Many of these apps are pre-loaded on Verizon devices—primarily Android smartphones. The company has received criticism for this practice, as users and critics have viewed
1584-737: 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
1632-450: The majority of Alltel Wireless in a deal valued at $ 28.1 billion. The merger was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on the condition that Verizon divest 105 Alltel markets. On May 8, 2009, AT&T announced it would acquire 79 of the divested wireless properties, including licenses, network assets, and 1.5 million current subscribers, primarily in rural areas across 18 states. On April 26, 2010, Atlantic Tele-Network acquired
1680-443: The option of opting out, and since April 1, 2015, Verizon has allowed customers to opt-out, either online or by calling a special phone number. In August 2016, Verizon hired Ronan Dunne , the former head of British provider O2 , as the new president of its wireless business. In September 2016, Comcast confirmed that it planned to launch a mobile service, using Verizon's network as an MVNO , in mid-2017. In February 2017, in
1728-485: The population of the United States can access their 4G network. However, OpenSignal's crowdsourced data showed 4G coverage of 95.9%. Before Verizon's LTE network was launched, the company operated an exclusively CDMA2000 network (the other major CDMA2000 carrier in the US being Sprint ). Verizon began its initial tests for the 4G LTE network in 2008 in order to move from older-generation mobile communications technologies to
1776-500: The pre-paid carrier Visible in Denver Colorado, which Verizon funds and owns. On June 8, 2018, Verizon announced that Hans Vestberg had been chosen to become CEO on August 1, 2018. In August 2018, the fire department of Santa Clara County, California , filed evidence in a lawsuit seeking the reinstatement of net neutrality policies, which accused Verizon of throttling an "unlimited" wireless data plan associated with
1824-403: The promotional campaign featured this notice on television and the website: "Our lawyers would like to inform you some of the characters you see here are not associated with Alltel. They are look-alikes. The characters, not our lawyers." In the first commercial, at an Alltel store, Alltel representative Chad spoke to representatives of five competitors to his circle . A second commercial was set in
1872-479: The remaining 26 divested Alltel markets, including licenses, network assets and 800,000 subscribers. These remaining markets continued to be operated by Allied Wireless , a subsidiary of ATN, under the Alltel name. On September 20, 2013, AT&T announced they had completed the acquisition of Alltel from Atlantic Tele-Network. AT&T immediately began plans to upgrade the former Alltel network and to move customers to
1920-410: The system to marketing partners. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called on Verizon to terminate the program, calling it a "profound violation of trust", expressing concern over abuse by third parties, and questioning the legality of Verizon modifying their users' outgoing data without offering them the possibility of a full opt-out. In January 2015, Verizon announced they would give customers
1968-546: The technology would allow at least 50% higher LTE data speeds on supported devices. By the end of 2019, Verizon had launched 5G service in 30 cities across the U.S. Verizon's 5G network is deployed on millimeter wave spectrum (mmWave). While fast, the high-band spectrum Verizon uses has limited range and high penetration loss. In October 2020, during a virtual event unveiling the iPhone 12 , Verizon announced that it had begun to widely deploy 5G service on sub-6 GHz spectrum, branded as "Nationwide 5G". This service has
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2016-422: The theme music " Come and Get Your Love ". The parodied competitors, called "Sales Guys" are perpetually frustrated by their failures and less popularity, even going so far as to harass and threaten him, albeit with less than effective results. The Sales Guys are played by professional actors Matthew Brent ( Verizon ), Scott Halberstadt ( Cingular/AT&T ), Ian Gould ( T-Mobile ), and Michael Busch ( Sprint ), who
2064-509: The time) to improve its data network across the U.S. The new capacity allowed Verizon to launch what it calls XLTE (LTE on Band 4) in 2013, providing more capacity in congested and well-populated markets. Because 4G LTE is a data-transmitting network, when it launched, Verizon customers' voice calls were still carried over the company's CDMA2000 network, which was developed for 3G cellphones. In September 2014, Verizon launched voice over LTE (VoLTE) ; this allowed voice calls to transmit via
2112-722: The wake of competition from Sprint and T-Mobile , and initiatives to expand the capacity and improve the quality of its network by using macrocells and supporting carrier aggregation, Verizon announced that it would bring back an "unlimited" data plan (subject to throttling in heavy network areas after 22 GB of usage). Verizon's decision not to restrict the bitrate of video services prompted Sprint and T-Mobile to remove similar restrictions from their own plans. In March 2017, Verizon announced that all their Android phones will have AppFlash, to help users find content and services across different apps. Critics spoke harshly against it. In May 2018, former Verizon executive Miguel Quiroga launched
2160-538: The wireless products and services into the divisions Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business , and stopped using the Verizon Wireless name. Verizon has 114.2 million subscribers as of September 30, 2024. It currently has the largest network in the United States with their LTE network covering 70% of the United States. The company is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey . It was founded in 2000 as
2208-405: 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. In September 1999, American phone company Bell Atlantic and British -based Vodafone Airtouch PLC proposed they would create
2256-509: Was later replaced by Adam Herschman. Each representative wears a shirt with the color of the company they represent, as well as name tags to represent their company. Most ads in 2007 had the Cingular/AT&;T guy wearing two name tags—one each for Cingular & AT&T—while that brand was transiting to AT&T . As of 2008, they added a snobbish wizard into the ads. The Christmas 2007/2008 ads uses stop-motion animation , parodying
2304-732: Was released in April 2013 initially for Android phones, followed the next month by a launch for iOS . Verizon Messages, otherwise known as Message+, is an alternative text messaging app that additionally allows messages to be synchronized between multiple devices. VZ Navigator is a subscription-based maps and navigation service which provides turn-by-turn navigation , crowdsourced traffic data , weather, events and entertainment listings, gas prices, roadside assistance, 2D and 3D views. The Verizon Support & Protection app provides technical support services, lost device location, and on Android, antivirus functionality. Verizon Family Locator
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