Verizon Wireless - Partnerships

Partnerships

Main article: Claro Puerto Rico

The Claro brand ("claro" being Spanish for "sure" or "clear") was launched in Puerto Rico on May 18, 2007 as rebranding the Verizon Wireless trademark, after Verizon International sold its stake in Puerto Rico Telephone Co. (PRTC). Claro is the wireless arm of PRTC, which serves wireline telephone and data services in the island. The brand was introduced to the wireless segment after March 30, 2007 acquisition of the telecom by América Móvil.

The company has made public its plans to launch a GSM/UMTS network parallel to the CDMA/EvDO network it operates since 2002. Claro has mobile voice and data services in Puerto Rico's 78 cities and towns and its coverage is constantly expanding, the company says.

Verizon Wireless still offers voice coverage in Puerto Rico by roaming on the Claro network. On America's Choice II and Nationwide calling plans, usage on this network is included at no cost (considered Extended Network) but on any other plan it costs $.69 per min.

Starting May 1, 2009, due to an agreement with the CDMA company "Iusacell", Verizon Wireless offers the Nationwide + Mexico calling plans. These plans allow users to call Mexico as part of their regular minutes. Users who travel can also roam into Mexico at no additional charge.

On August 17, 2009 Verizon began their work with Catalyst Communications Technologies. Catalyst integrated Verizon Wireless Push-to-Talk service with traditional Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Systems. This allowed for greater RoIP. This advanced solution dynamically routes Push-to-Talk voice on the Verizon Wireless nationwide network and calls placed on private radio systems and connects the two together. The new solution routes push-to-talk voice and calls placed on private radio systems on the Verizon Wireless nationwide network. The Catalyst IP|Console provides dispatch of Verizon Wireless push-to-talk calls as well as legacy Land Mobile Radio calls. The solution is designed for public safety, transportation, energy, federal and other critical communications agencies.

On October 14, 2010 Apple Inc. and Verizon Wireless announced a partnership that would bring the Apple iPad to Verizon Wireless Stores across the United States on October 28, 2010. While the collaboration will not see Verizon compatible technology embedded in the iPad, it will bundle the iPad Wi-Fi with a Verizon MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot.

On January 5, 2011, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless demonstrated the Onsight mobile collaboration system by Librestream using the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. The system allows field workers to stream high resolution video, speak, and draw onscreen with remote workers, extending the power of mobile collaboration to locations previously difficult to reach.

On January 11, 2011, Verizon announced during a media event that it had reached an agreement with Apple Inc. and would begin selling a CDMA iPhone 4. The Verizon iPhone 4 went on sale on February 10, 2011. It includes features such as 'Mobile Hotspot', which allows a user to use the iPhone as a wireless hotspot, with up to 5 devices connecting at one time. It also has a new antennae that is said to solve the 'death grip', which means that holding the iPhone 4 in a certain way would deplete its signal rapidly. Due to the minor 2-mm downward movement of the volume buttons, cases were adapted to specifically fit the Verizon iPhone.

On December 19, 2011, General Motors announced plans to join with Verizon to offer video chat and streaming content to automobile passengers.