Verizon Wireless 2008 Annual Report Download - page 6

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4
943
207
1,918
FIOS TV
CUSTOMERS
(thousands)
06 07 08
the฀world’s฀premier฀providers฀of฀all฀these฀capabilities.฀We฀are฀also฀building฀relationships฀with฀
world-class฀partners฀like฀Accenture฀to฀leverage฀our฀complementary฀capabilities฀and฀provide฀
customers฀with฀superior฀solutions฀for฀their฀businesses.฀Looking฀ahead,฀we฀expect฀companies฀to฀
look฀for฀ways฀to฀use฀communications฀to฀run฀their฀businesses฀more฀efciently,฀reduce฀travel฀
expenses,฀save฀energy฀costs฀and฀connect฀their฀increasingly฀global฀workforces฀and฀supply฀chains.฀
With฀our฀global฀reach฀and฀networking฀expertise,฀we฀have฀a฀great฀opportunity฀to฀be฀a฀strategic฀
partner฀in฀helping฀our฀major฀customers฀achieve฀these฀goals.฀
Once฀again฀in฀2008,฀our฀products฀earned฀Verizon฀top฀marks฀for฀quality฀and฀customer฀satisfac-
tion.฀Consumer฀Reports฀ranked฀us฀number-one฀among฀wireless฀companies฀in฀customer฀
satisfaction฀in฀87฀percent฀of฀the฀cities฀it฀studied.฀(By฀the฀way,฀Alltel฀was฀number-one฀in฀the฀other฀13฀
percent.)฀PCMag.com฀named฀FiOS฀Internet฀the฀fastest฀and฀most฀satisfying฀service฀in฀the฀U.S.฀and฀
listed฀FiOS฀as฀one฀of฀its฀100฀best฀products฀of฀2008.฀Industry฀analysts฀such฀as฀Gartner฀and฀Forrester฀
have฀recognized฀Verizon฀Business฀as฀a฀leader฀for฀global฀networks฀and฀services.฀
What฀this฀shows฀is฀that฀the฀market฀is฀responding฀to฀Verizon’s฀record฀of฀innovation.฀
So฀we฀feel฀condent฀about฀our฀long-range฀growth฀opportunities.฀This฀is฀not฀to฀say฀we฀are฀
unaffected฀by฀the฀economic฀slowdown฀or฀by฀the฀ongoing฀structural฀changes฀in฀the฀communica-
tions฀market.฀The฀traditional฀xed-line฀telephone฀business฀continues฀to฀decline฀as฀customers฀
disconnect฀their฀wired฀phones฀and฀shift฀to฀wireless,฀cable฀and฀other฀newer฀technologies.฀In฀
addition,฀the฀faltering฀economy฀depressed฀volumes฀in฀the฀large-business฀market฀in฀the฀fourth฀
quarter,฀as฀businesses฀began฀to฀curtail฀their฀spending฀and฀unemployment฀rose.฀
But฀all฀in฀all,฀2008฀was฀another฀year฀of฀operational฀excellence฀and฀strategic฀gains฀for฀our฀
company.฀As฀for฀our฀stock฀performance,฀Verizon’s฀total฀return฀for฀2008฀was฀down฀18฀percent,฀as฀
compared฀with฀declines฀of฀32฀percent฀for฀the฀Dow฀Jones฀Industrial฀Average฀and฀37฀percent฀for฀the฀
Standard฀&฀Poor’s฀500.฀If฀there’s฀a฀silver฀lining฀in฀these฀numbers,฀it’s฀that,฀on฀a฀relative฀basis,฀
Verizon’s฀performance฀was฀in฀the฀top฀one-third฀of฀both฀the฀S&P฀and฀the฀Dow฀30,฀which฀says฀that฀
the฀market฀recognizes฀our฀earnings฀and฀dividend฀stability.฀A฀longer-term฀view฀of฀our฀performance฀
over฀the฀period฀from฀2006฀to฀2008฀shows฀Verizon’s฀total฀return฀growing฀by฀35฀percent,฀as฀com-
pared฀with฀a฀decline฀of฀23฀percent฀for฀the฀Standard฀&฀Poor’s฀500.฀
In฀other฀words,฀Verizon฀has฀outperformed฀the฀market฀on฀a฀relative฀basis฀over฀the฀past฀year฀
and฀has฀generated฀attractive฀returns฀on฀an฀absolute฀basis฀over฀three฀years.฀This฀is฀cold฀comfort฀to฀
investors฀suffering฀through฀the฀current฀market฀crisis.฀You฀can฀be฀assured฀that฀the฀leaders฀of฀our฀
company฀are฀focused฀on฀what฀we฀control฀–฀productivity,฀innovation,฀customer฀service,฀and฀a฀
687
1,525
2,481
FIOS INTERNET
CUSTOMERS
(thousands)
06 07 08
3-Year Total Return
Verizon S&P 500
34.8%
-23.0%
-40%
0%
40%
80%
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