Verizon’s Corporate Responsibility Report Highlights Social Benefits of Company Initiatives, Employee Commitment and Broadband Network
Posted on May 23, 2008
Filed Under WiFi
NEW YORK, May 22 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon has issued its latest
corporate responsibility report, “Doing the Work,” which explains how the
company’s major initiatives are making a difference to its customers and
the communities it serves, creating a great place to work, and making
efficient use of resources.
Among the examples cited in the report is Verizon’s use of its
broadband network to help customers and employees significantly reduce
their carbon footprint. Another is Thinkfinity.org, Verizon’s award-winning
online educational resource, which is making it easy for teachers to bring
eight academic disciplines to life for students in classrooms across the
country. There is also an in-depth look at how some broadband-enabled
products and services are extending the benefits of technology to people
with physical limitations.
The report notes that numerous multinational corporations worldwide are
using Verizon Business’ communications services to go green and also work
smarter. The corporations are employing advanced collaboration solutions
such as high-definition (HD) conferencing and telepresence to improve
productivity across their operations, reduce employee air travel, and
support their overall corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Verizon’s broadband networks can also enable remote monitoring and
adjusting of energy use at “smart” buildings, remote reporting of traffic
congestion to “smart” cars, and remote monitoring of patient health to
“smart” offices of doctors.
In addition, the report says, through Thinkfinity.org Verizon provides
teachers across America with more than 55,000 free educational resources
and the professional training needed to help them reach today’s tech-savvy
students. First-in-class content partners help bring eight academic
disciplines to life in the classroom through interactive and engaging
content and unlock the promise of literacy for people of all ages.
The report also explains that deaf or hard-of-hearing customers in the
Northeast and Potomac regions can communicate in their language — American
Sign Language — with specially trained service representatives in one of
Verizon’s Centers for Customers with Disabilities via video phones and a
high-speed broadband connection.
“We hope to provide readers with a feel for the human impact of these
initiatives,” explains Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg in a letter
in the beginning of the report. “Our people believe passionately that what
we do — what they do — makes a difference for customers and our society
as a whole. This social dimension is built into our very mission as a
network company — in the fullest sense of the term.”
Verizon continues to be one of America’s leading employers, major
taxpayers and largest purchasers of goods and services. In 2007, Verizon
made a record $17.5 billion capital investment to enhance the power and
reliability of the company’s networks. The company spent $3.1 billion with
diverse suppliers, and the Human Resources Committee of the Verizon Board
of Directors implemented a change to the annual incentive plan to tie
supplier diversity success to short-term incentive compensation for
managers.
The 2007 corporate responsibility report also highlights these
additional Verizon programs and policies:
— An employee development and training investment that reached $371
million in 2007.
— One of the most generous active military-leave programs in corporate
America.
— Verizon helped Fort Wayne, Ind., transition into a center for
innovation and an ideal incubator for high-tech start-ups - outpacing
the rest of the state in economic growth — by investing nearly $70
million to deploy some 9 million feet of fiber-optic cable, bringing
the fastest broadband data services to 130,000 households and
businesses.
— Efforts to focus attention on the issue of child safety on the Internet
and the tools available to parents that can make the Internet safe and
enjoyable.
— Total energy conservation, waste prevention and recycling efforts that
reduced greenhouse-gas emissions by an estimated 332,295 metric tons
annually, equivalent to keeping more than 60,000 cars off the road.
— The Verizon Foundation increased spending on domestic violence
prevention programs to $5.5 million and held the second national
domestic violence summit. More than 1 million cell phones were
collected via Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine(R) phone recycling program,
through which phones are refurbished for reuse or recycled, and the
proceeds are donated to domestic violence advocacy groups or used to
purchase wireless phones for survivors.
— Verizon’s 52-page corporate responsibility report is available online
at http://responsibility.verizon.com/ .
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a
leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless
communication innovations to mass market, business, government and
wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable
wireless network, serving nearly 66 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s
Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and
seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon
Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications,
information and entertainment services over the nation’s most advanced
fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce
of nearly 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues
of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com.
VERIZON’S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches
and biographies, media contacts, high quality video and images, and other
information are available at Verizon’s News Center on the World Wide Web at
http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News
Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news
releases.
SOURCE Verizon
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