Verizon Wireless 2008 Annual Report Download - page 4

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By฀way฀of฀comparison,฀only฀three฀companies฀in฀the฀Dow฀Jones฀30฀generated฀more฀cash฀from฀
operations฀than฀Verizon.฀Because฀of฀our฀strong฀nancial฀position,฀we฀were฀able฀to฀invest฀$17.2฀
billion฀in฀networks,฀pay฀$5฀billion฀in฀dividends฀and฀repurchase฀$1.4฀billion฀of฀Verizon฀stock.฀In฀
September,฀we฀increased฀our฀quarterly฀dividend฀by฀7฀percent,฀to฀$.46฀per฀share฀–฀an฀expression฀of฀
our฀Board’s฀condence฀in฀our฀future฀and฀commitment฀to฀returning฀value฀to฀shareowners.฀
In฀2008,฀we฀remained฀focused฀on฀building฀and฀creating฀the฀premier฀assets฀in฀our฀industry฀
and฀continued฀to฀shift฀our฀center฀of฀gravity฀toward฀the฀growing฀wireless฀and฀broadband฀markets.฀
For฀example,฀we฀expanded฀our฀wireless฀footprint฀by฀acquiring฀Rural฀Cellular฀and฀by฀winning฀
extremely฀valuable฀wireless฀spectrum฀in฀the฀FCC฀auction,฀which฀positions฀us฀strongly฀for฀the฀next฀
phase฀of฀growth฀in฀the฀wireless฀market.฀Also,฀in฀a฀transaction฀that฀closed฀in฀January฀2009,฀we฀
acquired฀the฀nation’s฀number-ve฀wireless฀company,฀Alltel฀Corporation,฀making฀us฀the฀U.S.฀leader฀
in฀wireless฀customers฀and฀revenues.฀At฀a฀time฀when฀even฀healthy฀companies฀found฀it฀difcult฀to฀
tap฀into฀the฀credit฀markets,฀our฀ability฀to฀nance฀and฀execute฀a฀transaction฀of฀this฀magnitude฀
afrms฀our฀nancial฀solidity฀and฀healthy฀balance฀sheet.฀We฀also฀spun฀off฀some฀of฀our฀telephone฀
properties฀in฀northern฀New฀England฀and฀merged฀them฀with฀Fairpoint฀Communications,฀a฀leading฀
provider฀of฀local฀exchange฀services.
We฀continued฀to฀invest฀in฀the฀superior฀network฀technologies฀that฀are฀Verizon’s฀hallmark.฀฀Our฀
purchase฀of฀spectrum฀in฀the฀FCC฀auction฀expanded฀our฀inventory฀by฀60฀percent,฀which฀gives฀us฀
additional฀capacity฀to฀accommodate฀the฀rapid฀growth฀of฀wireless฀data฀services฀such฀as฀text฀
messaging,฀e-mail฀and฀Internet฀access.฀We฀passed฀more฀than฀3฀million฀additional฀homes฀with฀our฀
industry-leading฀ber-optic฀network,฀FiOS,฀and฀are฀now฀beginning฀to฀expand฀into฀big฀city฀markets฀
like฀New฀York฀City,฀Philadelphia฀and฀Washington,฀D.C.฀Our฀ber฀network฀now฀passes฀12.7฀million฀
homes,฀or฀about฀40฀percent฀of฀the฀households฀in฀our฀footprint,฀putting฀us฀two-thirds฀of฀the฀way฀to฀
our฀target฀of฀passing฀18฀million฀homes฀by฀2010.฀In฀the฀business฀market,฀our฀high-speed฀networks฀
provide฀a฀sophisticated฀communications฀and฀computing฀platform฀for฀multinationals฀and฀govern-
ment฀customers,฀and฀in฀2008฀we฀added฀to฀the฀security฀and฀robustness฀of฀our฀network฀
infrastructure฀in฀the฀U.S.,฀Europe฀and฀the฀Asia-Pacic฀region.฀We฀also฀led฀a฀consortium฀that฀built฀a฀
high-speed฀submarine฀ber฀link฀connecting฀China,฀South฀Korea,฀Taiwan฀and฀the฀United฀States.
$38.0
$43.9
$49.3
WIRELESS
REVENUE
(billions)
06 07 08
59.1
65.7
72.1
WIRELESS
CUSTOMERS
(millions)
06 07 08
We’ve spent the last decade remaking our wireless, landline and Internet
backbone networks and expanding the range of products, applications and
services we can deliver to our customers. Today our customers do much
more than make phone calls and send e-mail messages. They use our
networks to watch high-definition (HD) TV, surf the Internet, share photos,
watch videos online and conduct videoconferences around the globe.
We’re prepared for the next wave of growth that will come from a new
generation of broadband devices, applications and services that
will use our wireless and fiber networks to deliver advances in entertain-
ment, education, commerce and health care.
One of the biggest challenges for customers is bringing together all their
digital experiences to make their lives more convenient and productive.
We’ll soon be able to provide a technical solution to the challenge of
convergence by designing applications that work across all our networks –
broadband, global IP and wireless. Our customers will no longer be
stranded on separate islands of technology because we’ll be able to build
an application once and have the network deliver it to customers anytime,
anywhere, and on any device. Giving customers new tools to better
manage their digital lives will be one of the great business opportunities in
the coming years.
Transforming Verizon to Deliver the Best Wireless and
From
Voice and
Data
To
Content and
Applications
To
Unified
Platforms
From
Separate
Platforms