was a U.S.-based ,
2000 . On
June 30 ,
2000 , the addition of GTE Wireless' assets, in connection with the merger of
Bell Atlantic and
GTE to form
Verizon Communications , made Verizon Wireless the nation's largest wireless communications provider (until
Cingular 's acquisition of
AT&T Wireless in 2004). For the joint venture, Verizon Communications owns 55% and UK-based
Vodafone Group (formerly Vodafone AirTouch) owns 45%.
US West started its own wireless company in the early 1980s and branded it as —one of the first providers of personal wireless services at the time. However, due to federal regulations in place, they were not allowed to combine the sales of cellular and paging service with their wireline telephone service. Eventually through growth and a series of
Acquisitions , US West Cellular (formerly US West New Vector) and AirTouch Communications had both grown large in size and range. It was determined that both companies should merge. Due to regulatory limitations, certain overlapping areas of coverage had to be re-spun off, traded, or sold to other wireless providers. Much of this went to GTE Wireless, which was added to
Verizon Wireless on June 30, 2000. In some areas, the US West Cellular name was kept in place, giving the false appearance that the two were separate companies. However, in 1996, US West Cellular ceased to exist and all accounts were converted to AirTouch by the end of 1997. The former US West Cellular relocated significant portions of its operations to two of the AirTouch cities of operation,
Walnut Creek and
San Francisco ,
California , from the
Eastgate area of
Bellevue, Washington . It was not until after deregulation that US West Communications formed another wireless company, simply called US West Wireless, which was absorbed by
Qwest Communications when it took over US West. Qwest Wireless is a
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that operates on
Sprint PCS 's
CDMA Network .
Verizon Wireless still maintains a
Call Center in some of the buildings that used to house AirTouch Cellular's call center and administrative offices.
- AirTouch Communications was formed when Pacific Telesis spun off PacTel Cellular in 1994. {Link without Title}
- In July 1994, AirTouch Communications and US West formed a joint venture to eventually merge their cellular operations.
- In May 1996, US West New Vector Group rebranded US West Cellular as AirTouch Cellular. {Link without Title}
- In April 1997, AirTouch tried to buy US West New Vector but missed the Morris Trust filing deadline by 1 day. {Link without Title}
- In Feb. 1998, AirTouch Communications bought US West New Vector from US West Media for $5.7 billion. This made AirTouch the second largest wireless company in the US. {Link without Title}
- In January 1999, Vodafone bid $62 billion for AirTouch. {Link without Title}
- In June 1999, Vodafone Group Plc merged with AirTouch Communications, creating .
- In September 1999, Bell Atlantic and Vodafone Airtouch agreed to merge their U.S. wireless operations (Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, PrimeCo Communications, and AirTouch Paging) to form Verizon Wireless . {Link without Title}
- In April 2000, Verizon Wireless began operations—the creation of the Verizon Wireless brand marked the end of the AirTouch brand.
