We probably need to differentiate Verizon Communications/Verizon Business (wireline) from Verizon Wireless.
Verizon is a
baby-bell-transformer... made up of most of the northeastern baby bells and GTE... their purchase of MCI was probably a big deal for them to keep them up to speed with SBC (AT&T) and expand their footprint from the northeast... Verizon's workforce, mostly from the northeast, is largely unionized (CWA)...
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon (55%) & Britain's Vodaphone (45% stake)... after the Cingular/AT&T merger, VZW slipped to 2nd in the number of wireless customers although I think there's an office pool there wagering on the date VZW actually overtakes AT&T in number of wireless subscribers... Verizon Wireless's workers are 99% non-union (my estimate)... you can purchase stock in Verizon and Vodaphone but not Verizon Wireless...
Verizon Wireless entered the Tulsa market last January... and they entered the market with high-speed wireless broadband EVDO towers. With the addition of Tulsa, Verizon Wireless is in 99 of the nation's top 100 markets, the only market missing is down the turnpike in OKC.
At this time, there is no real connection between Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business. They are completely separate. Maybe someday there will be some sort of important working relationship, but none at the present.
The future of wireless and telecommunications in general is in data and "bundled" services. Yet the only combination of landline/wireless Verizon offers is a OneBill program that doesn't offer much savings other than the cost of a stamp and the convenience of only writing one check. The future of landline companies is in offering wireless and integrated services... the days of your old wireline home phone service are numbered and that market is dwindling with each passing year...
So far, Verizon, Verizon Business(formerly MCI) and Verizon Wireless have such a separate relationship that they don't yet compete with AT&T's DSL/landline/cellular packages the way they should.
Hopefully, any layoffs are temporary. The sticking point is whether Verizon or Vodaphone purchases Verizon Wireless outright.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/idea-vodafone-verizon-merger-seen-facing/story.aspx?guid=%7BD3E22711-C34F-4CB0-BDA9-00A5D66A6772%7Dquote:
Vodaphone is under tremendous pressure to sell its lucrative stake in Verizon Wireless or find some way to derive value from its U.S. holding.
Aside from a small tax break, Vodafone no longer gets a steady cash benefit from its stake in Verizon Wireless. An annual dividend payment required by the original agreement seven years ago forming the joint wireless venture expired in 2006.
Just three years ago, the dividend payment to Vodafone exceeded $1 billion.
That means the U.K. wireless giant will mostly realize paper gains via the increasing market value of its stake - the main reason Vodafone has maintained the joint venture for so long. Vodafone cannot realize actual cash gains until it sells its U.S asset.
What's more, Vodafone has been conducting a regular review of its options regarding its stake in Verizon Wireless ahead of the expiration next month of a key clause in its original joint-venture agreement.
By Aug. 9, Vodafone has to decide whether to force Verizon Communications to buy up to $10 billion in Verizon Wireless shares now owned by the British mobile operator. It's the last time Vodafone can exercise the so-called "put" option that was included in the original joint-venture agreement.
