Verizon Wireless 2010 Annual Report Download - page 43

41
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, 2010 and 2009, and the related consolidated statements of income,
cash flows and changes in equity for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 2010. 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 stan-
dards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether the financial statements 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 signifi-
cant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable 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, 2010 and 2009, and the consolidated results of its
operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 2010, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, Verizon
has elected to change its methods of accounting for actuarial gains
and losses and the calculation of expected returns on plan assets for all
pension and other postretirement benefit plans during the fourth quarter
of 2010.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), Verizon’s internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based on cri-
teria established in Internal Control–Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
and our report dated February 28, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion
thereon.
Ernst & Young LLP
New York, New York
February 28, 2011
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting
may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evalua-
tion 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, Verizon maintained, in all material respects, effective
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based
on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated
balance sheets of Verizon as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the
related consolidated statements of income, cash flows and changes in
equity for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010
of Verizon and our report dated February 28, 2011 expressed an unquali-
fied opinion thereon.
Ernst & Young LLP
New York, New York
February 28, 2011
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm on Financial Statements