verizon wireless

History

Verizon Wireless traces its roots to Bell Atlantic Mobile, NYNEX Mobile Communications, AirTouch Communications, PrimeCo Communications, and GTE Mobilnet. Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile Communications merged in 1995 to create Bell Atlantic-NYNEX Mobile, and in 1997 their namesake Baby Bell parents followed suit to form the new Bell Atlantic and their wireless subsidiary was renamed Bell Atlantic Mobile.

Meanwhile, in June 1999, AirTouch Communications of San Francisco, California merged with UK-based Vodafone Group Plc, forming Vodafone AirTouch Plc. In September 1999, Vodafone AirTouch announced a $90-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp. to be called Verizon Wireless, and which would be comprised of the two companies' U.S. wireless assets: Bell Atlantic Mobile and AirTouch Paging. This wireless joint venture received regulatory approval in six months, and began operations as Verizon Wireless on April 4, 2000. On June 30, 2000, the addition of GTE Wireless' assets, in connection with the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE to form Verizon Communications, made Verizon Wireless the nation's largest wireless communications provider (until Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless in 2004). For the joint venture, Verizon Communications owns 55% and UK-based Vodafone Group (formerly Vodafone AirTouch) owns 45%¹.

The name "Verizon," a portmanteau, is derived by combining the word "veritas," a Latin term that means "truth," and the word "horizon." Together, they are supposed to conjure images of reliability, certainty, leadership, and limitless possibilities. [1]

Verizon is one of six U.S. carriers to use CDMA technology, the others being Sprint Nextel's Sprint PCS division, ALLTEL, U.S. Cellular, Cricket, Midwest Wireless and Metro PCS. Please see List of United States mobile phone companies for more information. Aside from the 3 generations of CDMA (IS-95, 1x, and EV-DO), Verizon Wireless also uses an legacy AMPS network. CDMA technology is known to support more users at once within a confined space (as opposed to GSM). This is sometimes evident at large gatherings, such as graduation ceremonies or concerts.

Verizon Wireless claims it invests more than $6 billion annually to "maintain and expand" its nationwide CDMA network and support its analog network. Verizon Wireless offers voice services as well as 3G data services such as wireless broadband based on EV-DO, text and picture messaging, over-the-air downloadable applications and content from its "Get It Now®" service, Video on Demand in the form of V CAST (which allows customers to download and view video content), Location-Based Services, and Push-to-Talk.

Advertising

Verizon Wireless advertised, in the year 2000, the fact that they were, for a time, the largest cellular network in the country by showing people using cell phones and then gesturing with two fingers, much like the World War II-era "V for Victory" sign, to show that the person was on the Verizon ("V") network.

Later, Verizon adopted the slogan "We never stop working for you," with commercials depicting a Verizon employee roaming about in strange places continuously asking, "Can you hear me now? Good." (The "employee" is played by stage actor Paul Marcarelli [2]) The "test man" represents the technicians who conduct more than 300,000 call attempts monthly on Verizon Wireless' and other national wireless carriers' networks while traveling over 100,000 miles of the most frequently traveled roadways nationwide in specially equipped, company-owned test vehicles.)

In 2005, Verizon Wireless added an "army" of network engineers into their commercials in conjunction with the "test man." (The "test man" no longer says "Can you hear me now? Good.") Also, they have adopted a new slogan "It's the Network." to emphasize their network quality. (Verizon Wireless still uses the slogan "We never stop working for you." from time to time)

In the spring of 2006, Verizon Wireless began an advertising campaign highlighting their employees and how they enjoy working with Verizon Wireless in the field they work in. The commercials then added the phrase "Our people. Our network." to the standard slogan "Verizon Wireless. We never stop working for you." This advertising technique continued for several months.

Awards

• Highest In Business Wireless Satisfaction - J.D. Power and Associates, May 17, 2006
• Highest Customer Service Quality Rating - RCR Wireless News, January 21, 2004
• Best Wireless Product - Wireless Systems Design, February 11, 2004
• Carrier of the Year - Wireless Week, March 22, 2004
• Carrier of the Year - Wireless Week, April 1, 2006
• Best Overall Carrier - Laptop Magazine, May 2004
• Best Place to Work in IT - ComputerWorld, June 14, 2004
• Best Place to Work in IT - Computerworld, June 19, 2006
• 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers - Working Mother, October 2004
• Reader's Choice - PC Magazine, November 29, 2004
• Corporation of the Year - The U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
• Gold Well Workplace - The Wellness Councils of America, September 2005
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. April 1, 2006
• Carrier of the Year Wireless Week, April 1, 2006
• Tops For Diversity DiversityBusiness.com, March 30, 2006
• Training Top 100, Again Training, March 2006
• Cadillac of Wireless Services PC Magazine, February 2, 2006
• Working Mother Friendly New Jersey Breastfeeding Task Force, January 18, 2006

Content Delivery Systems

Get It Now

Overview

Get It Now is Verizon Wireless' implementation of Qualcomm's BREW technology. allowing a user to download and use applications on a Verizon Wireless Get It Now-enabled phone. It is a proprietary interface to download ring tones, games, applications, e-mails, directions, etc., and use instant messaging on a phone. Users usually are unable to load content on the Verizon Wireless phones outside of Get It Now system, this is done for financial reasons. Verizon Wireless has exclusitivity agreements with its Get It Now content providers (See Walled garden (media)). Sometimes cell phone enthusiasts do unauthorized modifications to the phones or use unauthorized software to make the phones accept non-Get It Now origined content.

Pricing and availability

Most games available on Get It Now are available in two purchase options: "subscribe," which charges a monthly amount to an account, and "unlimited" which is slightly more expensive and has one-time charge. Subscription fees range from $2.99 to $4.99 per month. Purchase fees range from $4.99 to $8.99. Most applications, such as Zagat restaurant lookup, do not allow unlimited-use purchases. Any application or game that requires a data connection will use Verizon minutes. Unlike other carriers, Verizon phones don't come with any free games.

Even though most of the applications available through Get It Now are BREW-based, the available selection of games and applications is different depending on what Verizon phone one is using.

V CAST

Overview

V CAST is Verizon's next-generation content delivery network. V CAST is powered by Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network. The typical download speed is between 400 and 700 kilobits per second with burst speeds of up to 2 megabits per second. V CAST provides streaming video clips. Some videos may be saved to the phone or a removable memory card, which cannot be read by other phones or computers. V CAST is heavily protected by digital rights management software based on Windows Media Video 9 and developed by PacketVideo [3]. There is buffering before the video stream is played and possibly during video playback, depending on the quality of the connection. V CAST is implemented as a permanently installed BREW application on a V CAST compatible phone. The V CAST application will not allow videos to play or even to navigate menus if there is no EV-DO coverage available. Contrast this to Sprint's MobiTV system which operates over 1xRTT, the predecessor to EV-DO. V CAST will only fall back to the slower 1x when a V CAST user leaves an EV-DO area in the middle of a video clip.

V CAST is one of the few mobile phone-based systems on which more advanced games including 3-D graphics can be played. The graphic quality of these games is similar to the original Sony PlayStation or the Sega Saturn. Most, but not all, V CAST games require air-time for use.

Video Content

• News
  • NBC News
  • CNN to Go
  • NBC Marketwatch
• Weather
  • AccuWeather.com Breaking news and Forecasts
• Entertainment
  • V CAST Showcase
  • Just for Laughs
• Sports
  • Fox Sports
  • ESPN

Pricing

V CAST service costs an additional $15 monthly fee. The majority of videos available are included with the V CAST service plan. However, premium content such as sports clips and music videos may cost between $1.99 and $3.99 extra. Live concerts are typically offered for free with the V CAST subscription. V CAST games are more expensive than their traditional BREW counterparts; $4 to $5 for a monthly subscription plan and $9 to $10 for unlimited use. Unlimited access to Mobile Web 2.0 through Verizon's EVDO service is also covered under the V CAST subscription fee.

V CAST Enabled Phones

• LG VX8000 -Discontinued
• LG VX8100 -Discontinued
• LG VX-8300
• LG VX9800 (also known as "The V")
• LG VX8500 (also known as "Chocolate")
• Motorola E815 -Discontinued
• Motorola RAZR V3c -Discontinued
• Motorola RAZR V3m
• Motorola MotoKRZR k1m
• Samsung SCH-a890 -Discontinued
• Samsung SCH-a930
• Samsung SCH-a950 -Discontinued
• Samsung SCH-a970
• Samsung SCH-a990
• Audiovox CDM8940 (sold under the Verizon name) -Discontinued
• Audiovox CDM8945 (sold under the Verizon name)
• Nokia 6305i
• Nokia 6315i

Controversy

• Recently, Telephia has published a report that Cingular Wireless drops the fewest calls across the country. Verizon Wireless advertises heavily the quality of their network above competitors.

Telephia independently measures the top four wireless carriers for a number of consumer value points. In relation to call quality, Telephia, in a letter to the four major carriers regarding this research, will not confirm or deny that Cingular drops the fewest calls. Also, Telephia has requested that Cingular update its advertising to indicate that Telephia provided the information it uses to make this claim, not that it actually supports or confirms the 'fewest dropped calls' claim. See Boston Globe Article Consumer Beat article by Bruce Mohl on May 14, 2006, page 2 Tepid Support [4]

• Verizon "cripples" the file and media transferring features of many of their cellphone offerings in order to force customers to purchase content through its "Get It Now" service. One example is the LG VX8100, a phone that features full MP3 player support. (It has a miniSD card to store MP3s, and play and pause/stop buttons on the front of the phone.) Verizon initially modified the phone's firmware to prevent MP3s from being used altogether. While newer phones were sold with the MP3 player re-enabled, and customers were usually informed of this feature, they still cannot be used as ringtones. The newest version of this phone has once again disabled this capability. Verizon's policy is in contrast to its major competitors (both GSM and CDMA): Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel; which allow their customers to use all the features that are available in the manufacturer's reference firmware design. See the next bullet point for more information.

• Verizon advertised the Motorola V710 as having full Bluetooth capability, when in reality it had no OBEX or OPP functions built in. After many complaints, a class action suit was filed for false advertising, not only for advertising missing capabilities, but also for telling customers who complained to Verizon that an update was coming out "in November." The lawsuit was initiated in January of 2005 and settlement decision became final on March 20, 2006, with Verizon offering to qualified members of the class action suit (purchased a V710 BEFORE February 2, 2005) a $25 credit to all of its V710 customers, or the option to trade in the V710 for $200 or original purchase price and allow them to keep their phone number and service, or $200 or original purchase price and allow them to break their contract and discontinue service with Verizon (all after numerous paperwork loops). The settlement to the lawsuit did not directly address the V710's restrictions. The same hardware crippling exists with Motorola's successor to the V710, the E815, but unlike the V710, the E815 was marked clearly that OBEX and OPP was disabled. Additionally, through a seem edit, OBEX could be enabled on the 815, but not on the 710 (the Verizon e815 lacks the OPP profile altogether). Other carriers' versions of the V710, while still possessing some restrictions to the Bluetooth functionality, are much less restrictive overall, allowing full use of the customer's own MIDI and MP3 files for ringtones, etc.

• Verizon makes heavy use of Qualcomm's BREW technology, and uses it over Java in case of phones where both are an option. By using BREW (which is branded Get It Now), Verizon locks users into its own applications, making it impossible to install anything Verizon doesn't offer. Programs such as the standard mail reader included in some phones were removed, forcing people to buy expensive mail readers from Get It Now. It is not uncommon for CDMA carriers to implement BREW. Most of the US CDMA carriers currently use BREW. Sprint Nextel is the main exception. They have opted for the Java interface.

• Verizon Wireless has removed features in firmware updates for the Motorola V710 for ringtone transfers, making it more difficult - but not impossible - to transfer MP3s from the phone's microSD card. This update also disabled editing of the homepage field in WebSessions making it more difficult to use alternate WAP gateways.

One result of this crippling has been a prominent network of "unofficial" web sites, documenting how to enable, access, or use hidden or crippled features. This often includes divulging service codes for new phone models, or homebrew software that can access otherwise hidden parts of the phone's memory system.

• Verizon Wireless has recently implemented a standard user interface across all handsets. Somewhat reminiscent of LG's interface, this standard reduces support training costs. However, it has also anecdotally alienated many brand-loyal customers who find it not aesthetically pleasing, only minimally customizable, slower than the previous interface, and a hindrance to the functioning of several previously available phone features.

• Verizon Wireless has come under fire by "power users" of its EV-DO wireless data network (called BroadbandAccess), for using language in its terms of service which heavily restricts what activities an EV-DO user can conduct even though the service is advertised as offering "Unlimited" data usage. The language in Verizon Wireless' usage agreement states "Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess services cannot be used (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games, (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections... We reserve right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, deny or terminate service, without notice, to anyone we believe is using NationalAccess or BroadbandAccess in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels." [5] See the bottom of the cited page for complete TOS language.

• Not only does Verizon limit the type of "unlimited" use, it imposes a quota on "unlimited" use, and terminates customers who exceed it. According to the Washington Post.[6], Broadband Reports[7], tech columnist Robert X. Cringely, many wireless industry "insider" news sites[8],[9], and countless blogs[10]; Verizon advertises "unlimited" broadand service but automatically terminates anyone using more than 5G/month (166M/day), no matter what they use the service for. This is a quota of about 15 minutes of actual data transmission time... for an "unlimited" use account. A PBS investigator monitored his bandwidth during normal use and discovered it to be 184M/day[11]. Customers who use this much find their service doesn't work, and when they call tech support are transferred to the Verizon security deprtment where they are accused of "illicit" activities such as streaming video, downloading pornography[12]. and P2P file sharing. "You abused and damaged our network", one suprised customer was told. Verizon advertises unlimited service[13] to sign up as many people as possible, then rather than increase capacity or charge more, they "cherry pick" the customers who don't use very much of it and crudely terminate everyone else.

Verizon Wireless Competitors

Wireless (in order of customer totals)

• Cingular
• Sprint Nextel
• T-Mobile
• Alltel
• U.S. Cellular

External links

• Official Verizon Wireless Web site
• Verizon advertisement for "unlimited" service -- see fine print (5G usage quota)
• An official "test man" Screensaver (downloadable screensaver: 1.38 MB)

Notes

Early in 2006, Verizon announced their intent to buy-out the remaining 45% of Stock of Verizon Wireless from The Vodafone Group. On August 1, 2006, Vodafone affirmed that it in fact has no intention of giving up its stake in Verizon Wireless. [14]