Verizon’s invitation cookie delivered day before June 23 presser. At the convention center on Lincoln Street, Wednesday morning, June 23, Verizon Wireless held a press conference to announce its comprehensive network upgrade including 55 new cell towers for the Midlands. A result of the $28 billion Alltel purchase by Verizon in early 2009, the addition of the 55 local cell towers affords dramatically denser site coverage.

Inside buildings where some cell phone users complain of lack of coverage or sporadic connections, the word from Verizon users is all to the good. Both Still Hopes in Cayce and the Hilton Columbia in the Vista report solid service from Verizon.

Verizon has almost 100 million subscribers in the U.S., and the company claimed more than $100 billion in revenue for 2009. But for the fourth quarter, 2009, Verizon had to report a loss of $653 million, mostly because of costs connected to layoffs, even though the company also reported a 10 percent increase in revenue. For the year 2009, Verizon had a profit of $3.6 billion, down from $6.4 billion the year before.

Cell tower cake prepared by Desserts and More. (L–r) Tiffany Sellers, assistant account executive; Robin Blackwood, director of client services; and Ashley Baker, assistant account executive, all with Jeff Dezen Public Relations. Verizon’s major rival is AT&T, the sole carrier for Apple’s iPhone in the U. S. and likely to stay that way through 2012. Not letting the competition get carried away, Verizon has been smartly selling smart phones such as the Motorola Droid and the BlackBerry Storm 2, both proving popular since introductions about a year ago.

And for now, Verizon is all about Google. The company’s two Google Android–based phones are seen as Verizon flagships, while Verizon is working with Google to start up a tablet in direct competition with Apple’s iPad.

Besides the exclusive with AT&T, the iPhone is not likely to connect with Verizon anytime soon due to Verizon’s CDMA network, which is incompatible with AT&T’s GSM network. Research in Motion (RIMM) sells BlackBerry phones on every major U.S. network, so selling on both AT&T’s GSM and also Verizon’s CDMA is not impossible. The iPhone gains customers and holds their loyalty because they can make calls and surf the Web simultaneously, a feature Verizon’s CDMA can’t support.

(BREAKING NEWS: At

4 p.m. Tuesday, June 29,

Yahoo! Finance reported

that Verizon will start selling

Apple’s iPhone by this

coming January. No comment

from Ver izon or

from Apple. Expect stock

surge.)

What Verizon can support are most parts of the country, making Verizon Wireless the nation’s largest wireless communications provider. In South Carolina in 2009, Verizon invested more than $87 million to enhance voice and data services and improve wireless coverage, bringing the total state–wide network investment to more than $770 million since 2000.

Verizon’s voice coverage serves 27,411 square miles in the state reaching approximately 94 percent of the state’s population, which allows them access also to the company’s high–speed wireless internet service, real– time email, and entertainment services through Verizon’s EVDO data network.

In the Columbia area, Verizon Wireless is the largest and most reliable for customers, achieving local market leadership up to seven times the 3G coverage of Verizon’s closest Midlands competitor, according to the Verizon press release.

Verizon Wireless employs more than 4,300 South Carolinians in 59 locations across the state including 36 retail venues and customer care centers in Charleston and Columbia. The customer care center in Columbia is the largest Verizon Wireless Call Center in the country. It houses the Global Support Team that serves as the national provider of service for U.S. customers traveling abroad.

Delivering the Midlands’ version of the Verizon Wireless story last week at the convention center was Jerry Fountain, president of the company’s Carolinas/ Tennessee Region. Accompanying Fountain was Karen Schulz, the head of public relations and media management for the Carolina’s/Tennessee Region. Providing support for the regional headquarters was Greenville– based Jeff Dezen Public Relations.

Taking a capitalist’s perspective, a quick review of the company stock revealed a market capitalization value of about $80 billion. As of early afternoon Tuesday, June 29, a share of Verizon stock was worth $28.30, and on June 1 it was $27.21, but in October 2008 it was worth $45. The price/earnings ratio was a high 33, what can be called high expectations from a growth stock. The dividend yield was seven percent, more than SCANA or Duke or even Southern, the three area utility monopolies, all which pay dividends just above five percent. Anytime a growth stock pays out seven percent in its dividend, more than what SCANA pays its widows and orphans, it’s worth a look.