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Verizon Wireless may be an American carrier, but nearly half of the company is owned by foreigner Vodafone — that is, until this week, when Verizon takes full ownership of the nation’s largest provider.
Verizon announced Monday that it had reached an agreement with Vodafone Group to take 100 percent ownership of Verizon Wireless in a $130 billion cash and stock deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.
The longtime partnership between Verizon and Vodafone was at one time expected to benefit Verizon Wireless customers with global roaming possibilities that never came to fruition, although the marriage did help the carrier’s rise to the top.
“Over the past 13 years, Verizon Wireless has been a key driver of our business strategy, and through our partnership with Vodafone, we have made Verizon Wireless into the premier wireless provider in the U.S.,” said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam.
“The capabilities to wirelessly stream video and broadband in 4G LTE complement our other assets in fiber, global IP and cloud. These assets position us for the rapidly increasing customer demand for video, machine to machine and big data. We are confident of further growth in wireless, and our business in its entirety.”
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