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87-652: Designed by Bird Engineering, it originally opened in 1984, as the Sandstone Center for the Performing Arts . It was renamed 'Verizon Wireless Amphitheater' in June 2002, after Verizon Wireless bought the naming rights for seven years from Houston -based Clear Channel Entertainment for an undisclosed amount. Clear Channel Communications spun off its live events management division in 2005 to form Los Angeles -based Live Nation , which continued to manage

174-901: A cellular network architecture, and therefore mobile telephones are called cellphones (or "cell phones") in North America. In addition to telephony , digital mobile phones support a variety of other services , such as text messaging , multimedia messaging , email , Internet access (via LTE , 5G NR or Wi-Fi ), short-range wireless communications ( infrared , Bluetooth ), satellite access ( navigation , messaging connectivity ), business applications, payments (via NFC ), multimedia playback and streaming ( radio , television ), digital photography , and video games . Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones ( slang : "dumbphones" ); mobile phones that offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones . The first handheld mobile phone

261-478: 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

348-552: 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

435-631: 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

522-400: A basic mobile phone, which is only capable of voice calling and text messaging. Feature phones and basic mobile phones tend to use a proprietary, custom-designed software and user interface . By contrast, smartphones generally use a mobile operating system that often shares common traits across devices. The critical advantage that modern cellular networks have over predecessor systems is

609-468: 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

696-434: A customer unit could use. A cellular network mobile phone system gets its name from dividing the service area into many small cells, each with a base station with (for example) a useful range on the order of a kilometer (mile). These systems have dozens or hundreds of possible channels allocated to them. When a subscriber is using a given channel for a telephone connection, that frequency is unavailable for other customers in

783-438: 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

870-437: 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,

957-599: 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

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1044-418: A few sets of radio channels (frequencies). Once these few channels were in use by customers, no further customers could be served until another user vacated a channel. It would be impractical to give every customer a unique channel since there would not be enough bandwidth allocated to the mobile service. As well, technical limitations such as antenna efficiency and receiver design limit the range of frequencies

1131-492: 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

1218-523: A mobile device, such as a smartphone. The term "app" is a shortening of the term "software application". A common data application on mobile phones is Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging. The first SMS message was sent from a computer to a mobile phone in 1992 in the UK while the first person-to-person SMS from phone to phone was sent in Finland in 1993. The first mobile news service, delivered via SMS,

1305-657: 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

1392-401: A number of distinguishing features. The International Telecommunication Union measures those with Internet connection, which it calls Active Mobile-Broadband subscriptions (which includes tablets, etc.). In the developed world, smartphones have now overtaken the usage of earlier mobile systems. However, in the developing world, they account for around 50% of mobile telephony . Feature phone

1479-501: A problem due to the design of the phone, the quality of the cellular network and compression algorithms used in long-distance calls . Audio quality can be improved using a VoIP application over WiFi . Cellphones have small speakers so that the user can use a speakerphone feature and talk to a person on the phone without holding it to their ear. The small speakers can also be used to listen to digital audio files of music or speech or watch videos with an audio component, without holding

1566-464: A single hand, since most thumbs cannot reach the entire screen surface; they may need to be shifted around in the hand, held in one hand and manipulated by the other, or used in place with both hands. Due to design advances, some modern smartphones with large screen sizes and "edge-to-edge" designs have compact builds that improve their ergonomics, while the shift to taller aspect ratios have resulted in phones that have larger screen sizes whilst maintaining

1653-517: A single platform. There are a huge variety of apps, including video games , music products and business tools. Up until that point, smartphone application distribution depended on third-party sources providing applications for multiple platforms, such as GetJar , Handango , Handmark , and PocketGear . Following the success of the App Store, other smartphone manufacturers launched application stores, such as Google's Android Market (later renamed to

1740-429: A small microchip called a Subscriber Identity Module or SIM card , in order to function. The SIM card is approximately the size of a small postage stamp and is usually placed underneath the battery in the rear of the unit. The SIM securely stores the service-subscriber key (IMSI) and the K i used to identify and authenticate the user of the mobile phone. The SIM card allows users to change phones by simply removing

1827-471: A telephone service area, which is divided up into 'cells'. Each cell uses a different set of frequencies from neighboring cells, and will typically be covered by three towers placed at different locations. The cell towers are usually interconnected to each other and the phone network and the internet by wired connections. Due to bandwidth limitations each cell will have a maximum number of cell phones it can handle at once. The cells are therefore sized depending on

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1914-606: 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

2001-611: 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. In September 1999, American phone company Bell Atlantic and British -based Vodafone Airtouch PLC proposed they would create

2088-486: 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

2175-469: A very thin carbon microphone". Early predecessors of cellular phones included analog radio communications from ships and trains. The race to create truly portable telephone devices began after World War II, with developments taking place in many countries. The advances in mobile telephony have been traced in successive "generations", starting with the early zeroth-generation ( 0G ) services, such as Bell System 's Mobile Telephone Service and its successor,

2262-713: 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

2349-419: Is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area, as opposed to a fixed-location phone ( landline phone ). The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator , which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use

2436-805: 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

2523-412: Is a term typically used as a retronym to describe mobile phones which are limited in capabilities in contrast to a modern smartphone . Feature phones typically provide voice calling and text messaging functionality, in addition to basic multimedia and Internet capabilities, and other services offered by the user's wireless service provider . A feature phone has additional functions over and above

2610-481: 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 has 114.2 million subscribers as of September 30, 2024. It currently has

2697-513: Is being used or not) using a technique known as multilateration to calculate the differences in time for a signal to travel from the mobile phone to each of several cell towers near the owner of the phone. The movements of a mobile phone user can be tracked by their service provider and, if desired, by law enforcement agencies and their governments. Both the SIM card and the handset can be tracked. China has proposed using this technology to track

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2784-468: The 5G NR (5G New Radio) standard. 5G can be implemented in low-band, mid-band or high-band millimeter-wave, with download speeds that can achieve gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) range, aiming for a network latency of 1 ms. This near-real-time responsiveness and improved overall data performance are crucial for applications like online gaming , augmented and virtual reality , autonomous vehicles , IoT, and critical communication services. Smartphones have

2871-695: 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

2958-648: The Improved Mobile Telephone Service . These 0G systems were not cellular , supported a few simultaneous calls, and were very expensive. The first handheld cellular mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing 2 kilograms (4.4 lb). The first commercial automated cellular network ( 1G ) analog was launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 1979. This

3045-888: The Philippines . A pilot project in Bali was launched in 2011 by the International Finance Corporation and an Indonesian bank, Bank Mandiri . Mobile payments were first trialled in Finland in 1998 when two Coca-Cola vending machines in Espoo were enabled to work with SMS payments. Eventually, the idea spread and in 1999, the Philippines launched the country's first commercial mobile payments systems with mobile operators Globe and Smart . Some mobile phones can make mobile payments via direct mobile billing schemes, or through contactless payments if

3132-649: The WCDMA standard. This was followed by 3.5G or 3G+ enhancements based on the high-speed packet access (HSPA) family, allowing UMTS networks to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. 3G is able to provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers. This ensures it can be applied to mobile Internet access, VoIP , video calls, and sending large e-mail messages, as well as watching videos, typically in standard-definition quality. By 2009, it had become clear that, at some point, 3G networks would be overwhelmed by

3219-450: The internet of things (IoT), fixed wireless access , and multimedia streaming (including music, video, radio , and television ). Deployment of fifth-generation ( 5G ) cellular networks commenced worldwide in 2019. The term "5G" was originally used in research papers and projects to denote the next major phase in mobile telecommunication standards beyond the 4G / IMT-Advanced standards. The 3GPP defines 5G as any system that adheres to

3306-599: The screen . Depending on the device's type and design, the screen fills most or nearly all of the space on a device's front surface. Many smartphone displays have an aspect ratio of 16:9 , but taller aspect ratios became more common in 2017. Screen sizes are often measured in diagonal inches or millimeters ; feature phones generally have screen sizes below 90 millimetres (3.5 in). Phones with screens larger than 130 millimetres (5.2 in) are often called " phablets ." Smartphones with screens over 115 millimetres (4.5 in) in size are commonly difficult to use with only

3393-642: 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

3480-595: The GSM was used by over 5 billion people in over 220 countries. The GSM (2G) has evolved into 3G, 4G and 5G. The standardization body for GSM started at the CEPT Working Group GSM (Group Special Mobile) in 1982 under the umbrella of CEPT. In 1988, ETSI was established, and all CEPT standardization activities were transferred to ETSI. Working Group GSM became Technical Committee GSM. In 1991, it became Technical Committee SMG (Special Mobile Group) when ETSI tasked

3567-493: The Google Play Store), RIM's BlackBerry App World , or Android-related app stores like Aptoide , Cafe Bazaar , F-Droid , GetJar , and Opera Mobile Store . In February 2014, 93% of mobile developers were targeting smartphones first for mobile app development. As of 2022, the top five manufacturers worldwide were Samsung (21%), Apple (16%), Xiaomi (13%), Oppo (10%), and Vivo (9%). From 1983 to 1998, Motorola

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3654-557: 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

3741-714: The SIM card from one mobile phone and inserting it into another mobile phone or broadband telephony device, provided that this is not prevented by a SIM lock . The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient for the Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja . A hybrid mobile phone can hold up to four SIM cards, with a phone having a different device identifier for each SIM Card. SIM and R-UIM cards may be mixed together to allow both GSM and CDMA networks to be accessed. From 2010 onwards, such phones became popular in emerging markets, and this

3828-421: The UK, the total number of mobile phones overtook the number of houses in 1999. Today, mobile phones are globally ubiquitous, and in almost half the world's countries, over 90% of the population owns at least one. A handheld mobile radio telephone service was envisioned in the early stages of radio engineering. In 1917, Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt filed a patent for a "pocket-size folding telephone with

3915-578: The ability to transfer cash payments by secure SMS text message. Kenya's M-PESA mobile banking service, for example, allows customers of the mobile phone operator Safaricom to hold cash balances which are recorded on their SIM cards. Cash can be deposited or withdrawn from M-PESA accounts at Safaricom retail outlets located throughout the country and can be transferred electronically from person to person and used to pay bills to companies. Branchless banking has also been successful in South Africa and

4002-550: The abnormally high traffic. Capacity was further increased when phone companies implemented digital networks. With digital, one frequency can host multiple simultaneous calls. Additionally, short-range Wi-Fi infrastructure is often used by smartphones as much as possible as it offloads traffic from cell networks on to local area networks. The common components found on all mobile phones are: Low-end mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones and offer basic telephony. Handsets with more advanced computing ability through

4089-441: 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

4176-961: The benefits of different calling plans. For example, a particular plan might provide for cheaper local calls, long-distance calls, international calls, or roaming. The mobile phone has been used in a variety of diverse contexts in society. For example: In 1998, one of the first examples of distributing and selling media content through the mobile phone was the sale of ringtones by Radiolinja in Finland. Soon afterwards, other media content appeared, such as news, video games, jokes, horoscopes, TV content and advertising. Most early content for mobile phones tended to be copies of legacy media , such as banner advertisements or TV news highlight video clips. Recently, unique content for mobile phones has been emerging, from ringtones and ringback tones to mobisodes , video content that has been produced exclusively for mobile phones. In many countries, mobile phones are used to provide mobile banking services, which may include

4263-469: The call, from detecting the presence of a handset in a service area, temporary assignment of a channel to a handset making a call, interface with the land-line side of the network to connect to other subscribers, and collection of billing information for the service. The automation systems can control the "hand off" of a customer handset moving between one cell and another so that a call in progress continues without interruption, changing channels if required. In

4350-399: The clock rate (generally given in multiples of hertz ) but also the memory hierarchy also greatly affects overall performance. Because of these problems, the performance of mobile phone CPUs is often more appropriately given by scores derived from various standardized tests to measure the real effective performance in commonly used applications. One of the main characteristics of phones is

4437-407: The committee with UMTS (3G). In addition to transmitting voice over digital signals, the 2G network introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages, then expanding to Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and mobile internet with a theoretical maximum transfer speed of 384 kbit/s (48 kB/s). In 2001, the third-generation ( 3G ) was launched in Japan by NTT DoCoMo on

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4524-421: The company's network, and Verizon provides technical support and resources to help the rural wireless company build out its own 4G LTE network. The program extends the footprint of 4G LTE coverage for both the rural carrier and Verizon, as customers can take advantage of both networks. As of 2015 , all LRA members have fully rolled out their 4G LTE networks. Mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone

4611-435: The concept of frequency reuse allowing many simultaneous telephone conversations in a given service area. This allows efficient use of the limited radio spectrum allocated to mobile services, and lets thousands of subscribers converse at the same time within a given geographic area. Former systems would cover a service area with one or two powerful base stations with a range of up to tens of kilometers' (miles), using only

4698-422: The contract. Under the new deal with New West, the name would revert to Sandstone. Through 2007, the venue featured 6,700 reserved seats and general admission lawn seating. Beginning in 2008, plans are underway to remove the majority of the reserved seats closest to the stage in order to make that area a general admission section. The change in the seating configuration is designed to let more fans get closer to

4785-408: 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

4872-415: The earliest mobile phone systems by contrast, all control was done manually; the customer would search for an unoccupied channel and speak to a mobile operator to request connection of a call to a landline number or another mobile. At the termination of the call the mobile operator would manually record the billing information. Mobile phones communicate with cell towers that are placed to give coverage across

4959-498: 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

5046-496: The end of 2009. In 2014, there were more than seven billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide, a number that is expected to keep growing. Mobile phones are used for a variety of purposes, such as keeping in touch with family members, for conducting business, and in order to have access to a telephone in the event of an emergency. Some people carry more than one mobile phone for different purposes, such as for business and personal use. Multiple SIM cards may be used to take advantage of

5133-531: The ergonomics associated with smaller 16:9 displays. Liquid-crystal displays are the most common; others are IPS , LED , OLED , and AMOLED displays. Some displays are integrated with pressure-sensitive digitizers, such as those developed by Wacom and Samsung , and Apple's " 3D Touch " system. In sound, smartphones and feature phones vary little. Some audio-quality enhancing features, such as Voice over LTE and HD Voice , have appeared and are often available on newer smartphones. Sound quality can remain

5220-420: The expected usage density, and may be much smaller in cities. In that case much lower transmitter powers are used to avoid broadcasting beyond the cell. In order to handle the high traffic, multiple towers can be set up in the same area (using different frequencies). This can be done permanently or temporarily such as at special events or in disasters. Cell phone companies will bring a truck with equipment to host

5307-704: 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

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5394-486: The first quarter of 2016, the top smartphone developers worldwide were Samsung , Apple and Huawei ; smartphone sales represented 78 percent of total mobile phone sales. For feature phones as of 2016 , the top-selling brands were Samsung, Nokia and Alcatel . Mobile phones are considered an important human invention as they have been one of the most widely used and sold pieces of consumer technology. The growth in popularity has been rapid in some places, for example, in

5481-599: The growth of bandwidth-intensive applications, such as streaming media . Consequently, the industry began looking to data-optimized fourth-generation ( 4G ) technologies, with the promise of speed improvements up to tenfold over existing 3G technologies. The first publicly available LTE service was launched in Scandinavia by TeliaSonera in 2009. In the 2010s, 4G technology has found diverse applications across various sectors, showcasing its versatility in delivering high-speed wireless communication, such as mobile broadband,

5568-569: The influence of European companies had significantly decreased due to fierce competition from American and Asian companies, to where most technical innovation had shifted. Apple and Google, both of the United States, also came to dominate mobile phone software. The world's largest individual mobile operator by number of subscribers is China Mobile , which has over 902 million mobile phone subscribers as of June 2018 . Over 50 mobile operators have over ten million subscribers each, and over 150 mobile operators had at least one million subscribers by

5655-471: 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 a joint venture of American telecommunications firm Bell Atlantic , which would soon become Verizon Communications , and British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone . Verizon Communications became

5742-414: The local cell and in the adjacent cells. However, cells further away can re-use that channel without interference as the subscriber's handset is too far away to be detected. The transmitter power of each base station is coordinated to efficiently service its own cell, but not to interfere with the cells further away. Automation embedded in the customer's handset and in the base stations control all phases of

5829-443: 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

5916-427: The performers and eliminate costs of the extra security normally required. Additional structural changes include an upgraded VIP club and new sound and video systems. Through the years the stage has fought several limitations. For instance, a 37-foot roof is well below the norm, which often proves challenging to book shows. It has undergone numerous name changes since it opened: Verizon Wireless Verizon

6003-399: The phone and the point of sale support near field communication (NFC). Enabling contactless payments through NFC-equipped mobile phones requires the co-operation of manufacturers, network operators, and retail merchants. Mobile phones are commonly used to collect location data. While the phone is turned on, the geographical location of a mobile phone can be determined easily (whether it

6090-567: The phone close to the ear. The average phone battery lasts two–three years at best. Many of the wireless devices use a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery, which charges 500–2500 times, depending on how users take care of the battery and the charging techniques used. It is only natural for these rechargeable batteries to chemically age, which is why the performance of the battery when used for a year or two will begin to deteriorate. Battery life can be extended by draining it regularly, not overcharging it, and keeping it away from heat. Mobile phones require

6177-485: 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

6264-500: 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

6351-552: The second-generation ( 2G ) digital cellular technology was launched in Finland by Radiolinja on the GSM standard. This sparked competition in the sector as the new operators challenged the incumbent 1G network operators. The GSM standard is a European initiative expressed at the CEPT ("Conférence Européenne des Postes et Telecommunications", European Postal and Telecommunications conference). The Franco-German R&D cooperation demonstrated

6438-724: 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

6525-410: 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

6612-401: The technical feasibility, and in 1987, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between 13 European countries that agreed to launch a commercial service by 1991. The first version of the GSM standard had 6,000 pages. The IEEE and RSE awarded Thomas Haug and Philippe Dupuis the 2018 James Clerk Maxwell medal for their contributions to the first digital mobile telephone standard. In 2018,

6699-546: 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

6786-509: 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

6873-699: The use of native software applications are known as smartphones . The first GSM phones and many feature phones had NOR flash memory, from which processor instructions could be executed directly in an execute in place architecture and allowed for short boot times. With smartphones, NAND flash memory was adopted as it has larger storage capacities and lower costs, but causes longer boot times because instructions cannot be executed from it directly, and must be copied to RAM memory first before execution. Mobile phones have central processing units (CPUs), similar to those in computers, but optimised to operate in low power environments. Mobile CPU performance depends not only on

6960-497: The venue through the 2007 concert season. Locals simply refer to the venue as "Sandstone". In September 2007, Live Nation announced that it would let its managing contract expire on December 31, 2007. In January 2008, the Unified Government Commission ratified a pact with local promoter Chris Fritz's New West Presentations, Inc., to operate the venue through the end of 2009, with a two-year option to extend

7047-722: 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

7134-412: Was attributed to the desire to obtain the lowest calling costs. When the removal of a SIM card is detected by the operating system, it may deny further operation until a reboot. Feature phones have basic software platforms. Smartphones have advanced software platforms. Android OS has been the best-selling OS worldwide on smartphones since 2011. A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on

7221-587: Was demonstrated by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City on 3 April 1973, using a handset weighing c. 2 kilograms (4.4 lbs). In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) launched the world's first cellular network in Japan. In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone. From 1983 to 2014, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grew to over seven billion; enough to provide one for every person on Earth. In

7308-555: Was followed in 1981 by the simultaneous launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Several other countries then followed in the early to mid-1980s. These first-generation ( 1G ) systems could support far more simultaneous calls but still used analog cellular technology. In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone. In 1991,

7395-507: Was launched in Finland in 2000, and subsequently many organizations provided "on-demand" and "instant" news services by SMS. Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was introduced in March 2002. The introduction of Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch in July 2008 popularized manufacturer-hosted online distribution for third-party applications (software and computer programs) focused on

7482-508: Was market leader in mobile phones. Nokia was the market leader in mobile phones from 1998 to 2012. In Q1 2012, Samsung surpassed Nokia, selling 93.5 million units as against Nokia's 82.7 million units. Samsung has retained its top position since then. Aside from Motorola, European brands such as Nokia, Siemens and Ericsson once held large sway over the global mobile phone market, and many new technologies were pioneered in Europe. By 2010,

7569-732: 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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