Verizon Wireless 2006 Annual Report Download - page 43

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To The Board of Directors and Shareowners of
Verizon Communications Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of
Verizon Communications Inc. and subsidiaries (Verizon) as of
December 31, 2006 and 2005, and the related consolidated state-
ments of income, cash flows and changes in shareowners’
investment for each of the three years in the period ended
December 31, 2006. These financial statements are the responsi-
bility of Verizon’s management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial state-
ments are free of material misstatement. An audit includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a rea-
sonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present
fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of
Verizon at December 31, 2006 and 2005, and the consolidated
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2006, in conformity with
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements,
Verizon changed its methods of accounting for stock-based com-
pensation effective January 1, 2006 and pension and other
post-retirement obligations effective December 31, 2006.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the effectiveness of Verizon’s internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2006, based on criteria established
in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and
our report dated February 23, 2007 expressed an unqualified
opinion thereon.
Ernst & Young LLP
New York, New York
February 23, 2007
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projec-
tions of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject
to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of
changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, management’s assessment that Verizon maintained
effective internal control over financial reporting, as of December
31, 2006, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the
COSO criteria. Also, in our opinion, Verizon maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting
as of December 31, 2006, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consoli-
dated balance sheets of Verizon as of December 31, 2006 and 2005,
and the related consolidated statements of income, cash flows and
changes in shareowners’ investment for each of the three years in the
period ended December 31, 2006 of Verizon and our report dated
February 23, 2007 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Ernst & Young LLP
New York, New York
February 23, 2007
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm on Financial Statements