Verizon
Profile
Verizon is the second-largest U.S. telecommunications provider. It is an heir to the American Bell Telephone Company network founded in 1877 that was broken up into seven regional companies a century later. One of those seven was Bell Atlantic, which later re-acquired other parts of the original network, and eventually became Verizon in the year 2000. Verizon was outed by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013 for collaborating with the spy agency to secretly collect communications data of millions of U.S. customers. The company has lobbied heavily against ‘net neutrality’ which requires companies to provide Internet content at the same speed rather than favoring one content provider (such as major video and web distributors) over the others.
Mobile phones, smartphones, tablet computers, hardware, software and services to telecommunications service providers and enterprises
Violations
| Top 5 Offense Groups (Groups Defined) | Penalty Total | Number of Records |
|---|---|---|
| financial offenses | $1,165,517,909 | 8 |
| consumer-protection-related offenses | $1,019,557,216 | 47 |
| employment-related offenses | $185,024,715 | 64 |
| government-contracting-related offenses | $123,295,410 | 4 |
| environment-related offenses | $2,741,376 | 23 |
(May 26, 2021)
Stories
Verizon couldn't have restricted Santa Clara County's internet service during the fires under net neutrality
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and his staff are fond of taking to Twitter to assert that, in the just over two months since the repeal of the FCC’s 2015 network neutrality rules took effect, the “In
Verizon data of 6 million users leaked online
Verizon confirmed on Wednesday the personal data of 6 million customers has leaked online.
The security issue, uncovered by research from cybersecurity firm UpGuard, was caused by a misconfigured security setting on a cloud server due to "human error."
Verizon Reselling Its Customers' Locations Is A Reminder We Are All Just Data For Sale
Earlier today Verizon and AT&T both pledged to largely stop reselling their customer’s real-time mobile phone locations to third-party commercial data brokers, though both companies noted that they would not ent
Verizon Launches 'Private' Search Engine After Years of Violating Its Customers' Privacy
Verizon has spent the better part of the last decade mired in privacy scandals and lobbying the government to ignore or legalize its bad behavior. Now it’s launching a new privacy-centric search engine, apparently hoping you forgot all of that ever happened.
The N.S.A.-Verizon Scandal
On Wednesday night, Glenn Greenwald, of the Guardian, posted
Verizon and a company it bought just paid $614M in biggest FCC fine ever
The Federal Communications Commission today collected a $614.3 million fine from Verizon and Straight Path, a company that Verizon just bought.
FCC Proposes $48.3M Fine against Verizon in Location Information Case
- Full Title: In the Matter of Verizon Communications
- Document Type(s): NAL
- Bureau(s): Enforcement
Jersey City, Newark mayors say Verizon is discriminating against low-income residents
fulop-baraka.JPG
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, left, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, seen here in 2014, are accusing Verizon of discriminating against the state's low-income residents. Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
(Jersey Journal file photo)
Family sues Verizon after worker who 'wasn't given any PPE' dies of Covid-19
Alfred Salvatore, a 47-year-old service technician at Verizon for over 20 years in Chester, Pennsylvania, died from coronavirus on 24 April, after repeatedly sounding the alarm over the lack of getting any pro
Activism
Break up the Telecom Giants
Osita Nwanevu | TNR | March 17, 2021
Verizon and AT&T hold the keys to the internet for millions of Americans—and have enough power, online and off, to be just as worthy of scrutiny as the social media giants.
Workers and Elected Leaders Protest Racial Discrimination at Verizon Wireless
Communications Workers of America | October 10, 2019
Today, Verizon Wireless workers and elected leaders including New York State Senator Julia Salazar and New York State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou rallied outside the Verizon Wireless store on Wall Street to protest and deliver a 15,000-signature petition calling on Verizon to address issues of racism reported by workers around the country.
'It's union busting 101': documents reveal Verizon's attacks on organized labor
Michael Sainato | The Guardian | January 16, 2019
Unions offer “empty promises and unrealistic expectations” and don’t act with “integrity”, according to internal documents circulated by Verizon’s human resources department and obtained by the Guardian.
Groups of angry protesters are gathering outside of Verizon stores
Gabriel Bell | The Salon | December 8, 2017
In small groups across the country, demonstrators could be found Thursday holding up placards and chanting slogans can be found outside of Verizon stores. But, no, they weren't protesting against the carrier's hidden fees, dropped calls or lack of iPhone Xs.
Don't Kill Net Neutrality
Verizon Protest | December 7, 2017
The new chairman of the FCC was a top lawyer at Verizon. Now he's calling for a vote to kill net neutrality. We’re protesting at retail stores across the U.S. to demand that Congress stop Verizon’s puppet FCC from destroying the Internet as we know it.
Verizon workers vote to back strike in contract dispute, if necessary
Associated Press | The Guardian | July 26, 2016
Verizon workers in nine states have voted to go on strike if necessary over a dispute about a new contract, a union official said at a rally Saturday. “Our members are clear and they are determined,” said Dennis Trainor, an official with the Communications Workers of America union. “They reject management’s harsh concessionary demands.”
- Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
- Center for Health, Environment & Justice
- American Friends Service Committe: Investigate
- Publish What You Pay
- Pacific Environment
- International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions
- Greenpeace
- Friends of the Earth International
- Friends of the Earth Europe
- Environmental Rights Action, Friends of the Earth Nigeria
- EarthWorks
- EarthRights International
- Corporate Watch
& Lawsuits
California demands Verizon, AT&T pay for own network investigations
A. Tarantola | Engadget | September 10, 2015
The California Public Utilities Commission has decided to launch an investigation into both Verizon and AT&T, claiming both networks failed to consistently provide quality service to their customers. What's more, the CAPUC is insisting that the carriers pay for the investigation themselves.
Verizon to pay $1.25M FCC fine; forced to allow tethering apps
Marguerite Reardon | C Net | July 31, 2012
Verizon Wireless is no longer allowed to block apps that allow people to use their 4G LTE smartphones as Wi-Fi hotspots. And the carrier will pay the Federal Communications Commission a $1.25 million fine, the government agency said Tuesday.
& Relations
Mom: Verizon Fired Me For Taking Leave After My Babies Died
Kate Briquelet | Daily Beast | July 12, 2017
A New Jersey woman who used a surrogate to have twins is suing Verizon for allegedly denying her paid maternity leave—and she claims the company later fired her when she took time off to care for the babies, who were born prematurely and who both died shortly after birth.
39,000 Verizon Workers Mark Six Weeks on Strike in Biggest U.S. Labor Action in Years
Democracy Now | May 25, 2016
Today marks six weeks since nearly 40,000 Verizon workers went on strike along the East Coast, from Massachusetts to Virginia, marking one of the biggest U.S. strikes in years. The workers have been without a contract since August amid attempts by Verizon to cap pensions, ...
Financials
Note: Most recent list is not always the most complete list.
- Verizon Communications Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2020)
- Verizon Communications Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2018)
- Verizon Communications Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2018)
- Verizon Communications Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2016)
Croctail Subsidiary Tool using the CorpWatch API - This API uses automated parsers to extract the subsidiary relationship information from Exhibit 21 of companies' 10-K filings with the SEC.
Click here for the latest data.
Political Influence
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Verizon Communications
& Evasion
Verizon Corporate Tax Dodger
Americans for tax Fairness | 2012
Verizon is the nation’s largest cellular phone operator, with 115 million customers. Verizon paid less in
federal income taxes in recent years than many of its customers.
How Verizon Shortchanges the Government through Tax Dodging & Subsidies
Communications Workers of America | 2010
With more than $100 billion in annual revenues and nearly $15 billion in operating profits, Verizon is a large and prosperous company that should pay a substantial amount in taxes to federal, state and local governments.
$100 Billion Verizon is one of Country’s Most Aggressive Tax Dodgers
Good Jobs First | 2010
A new report released today reveals how Verizon Communications achieves a negative federal tax rate to avoid paying its fair share of taxes, and aggressively uses tax loopholes and subsidies to cut its tax bills even more