BEHIND THE NAME
Verizon Communications Inc. was formed in 2000 from the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. Lobbying expenditures between 1999 and 2009 for Verizon, Verizon Wireless and companies it acquired during the decade total $147 million.

Verizon had 9.2 million broadband subscribers as of the third quarter 2009. Verizon Wireless* is the nation’s largest cell-phone company with more than 91.2 million subscribers.

Sources: Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (broadband subscribers); lobbying disclosure forms with the Senate Office of Public Records (lobbying data); SEC filings (wireless subscribers).

*Verizon Wireless is a joint venture with British telecommunications giant Vodafone Group Plc, which holds a 45-percent stake.

Graphic research by Mia Steinle, Investigative Reporting Workshop