Verizon Communications, Inc., commonly referred to as Verizon, is an American telecommunications company, formed in 1984 by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. The company is headquartered in New York City and operates in the United States and Canada.
Verizon is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, with more than 236 million customers. Verizon was originally known as Bell Atlantic Corporation, and changed its name to Verizon Communications in 2000.
Verizon’s origins date back to the late 19th century. In 1883, American Alexander Graham Bell created the first telephone service in the world, and in 1885, American Eliza Houghton established the first telephone company in America, also known as the Houghton Telephone Company.
The two companies merged in 1984 to form Verizon Communications.
Verizon operates the largest landline telephone network in the United States, with more than 236 million customer connections as of March 31, 2014. The company also provides wireless, broadband, and cloud-based services. In 2013, Verizon made a $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo! Inc.
and in 2014, it acquired AOL for $4.4 billion.
Verizon’s corporate motto is “In god we trust.” The company is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global 100.
Verizon ranked No. 127 on the Fortune 500 list in 2013.
