Management Information Systems
Verizon Wireless is one of the leading wireless providers in the United States. Of the major four carriers in the United States, Verizon has been able to maintain the lead in all areas such as the network, customer service and products. Established in a joint venture between Vodafone and Verizon Communications in the year 2000 after diluting the company formally known as Bell Atlantic, Verizon “is the standard-bearer for the industry and leader in delivering the benefits of our empowering technology to the world” (About Verizon, 2013). With the other major carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, it can be seen how Verizon has been able to stay ahead of the competition using Porters Five Force Model.
In Michael Porters Five Force Model, the first force he describes is new entrants into the industry. This force pertains to how the development of the internet now makes it easier for new or smaller companies to compete in the industry. Within the wireless industry, the advancement in technology and the internet has made it much easier for smaller, start-up companies to compete. In the past, many companies such as Nextel and Boost have emerge, but just as quickly as those businesses were established, they were acquired by one of the major carriers. Recently, there has been the emergence of Metro PCS, which has started to gain leverage with its customer base among other smaller carriers such as H2O. Since its founding in 1994, it is now the fifth largest wireless carrier in the United States and is now owned by T-Mobile (Reuters, 2012). The key to success of Metro PCS was that they were marketing their services to those who already had cellular devices. This was a huge risk for the company due to the fact that the wireless industry has been classified as saturated. Metro PCS allowed consumers to take their currently devices and sign up for service online and pay a flat rate for unlimited talk,