Verizon: “We’re available in 220+ countries”. World: Uhhh, there’s only 196…if you’re lucky.

Posted at 10:58 am April 15, 2010 by | 8 comments

It never ceases to amaze me how a company will stoop to lying and deceptive measures to make themselves look bigger and better than the competition. While Verizon is currently on the higher end of my list of consumer friendly carriers, they’re certainly not a stranger to the opposite end of things as many of you know. But this post isn’t being crafted to rag on a new anti-consumer policy. Instead, it’s actually pretty comedic. Who doesn’t like a good laugh, right?

So here it goes…

According to Verizon, they’re available in over 220+ countries. That sounds impressive and all until you stop and realize that there aren’t 220+ countries on the planet. The U.N. will only fess up to 192. The US won’t go a touch above 194. But other estimates from various sources (Google saves us again) shows 195-196. Even then, that’s far short of “220+”. So what gives?

After being contacted on the math blunder by Consumerist, Verizon PR attributed it to the fact that many places are actually several countries that the general populous recognizes as one — places such as China. According to pretty much every government body in the world, China is China. To Verizon (and probably several other carriers in need of a ratings boost), China becomes (4) distinct areas (or “zones” as VZW put it). Each of these zones are apparently entirely different countries.

In reality, it’s nothing more than a marketing ploy to make themselves look more widely used than they really are. Verizon isn’t really in 220+ countries. Hell, CDMA itself isn’t in every country on the planet — so how could Verizon be there even with roaming agreements?

Corporate snafu’s at their finest. Anywho, if you’d like to dispute this claim, the list of the total 234 countries Verizon claims as offering coverage is below…

Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Barbuda
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Republic of
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Easter Island
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia (Tahiti)
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao (Macau)
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives Republic
Mali
Malta
Marie Galante
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte Island
Mexico
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Authority
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion Island
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saba
Samoa
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
St. Barthelemy
St. Croix
St. Eustatius
St. John
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Maarten
St. Martin
St. Thomas
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Sudan
Suriname
Svalbard
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga Island
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom-England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands, British
Virgin Islands, U.S.
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zanzibar
Zimbabwe

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Global_Phone/plans_coverage.html

Geekosystem > Consumerist

  • energy management

    AT&T May have more bars in more places but we’ve got more places then there are places so there.I love how the sole comment (r-4) only read the first paragraph.

  • Derf

    OK, how would you classify Bermuda? Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory . It is not a country by UN standards. Or Cayman? Or St. Pierre? Miquilon? St. Bart’s? None of these are countries by the UN membership standard. They are all protectorates and territories of parent countries. All of these locales consider themselves “countries”, as they are generally self governing, but not independant.

    But if I’m travelling to Grand Cayman, I’m more interested in whether Verizon has service there than England.

    Maybe the list should say “220 countries, protectorates, territories, and colonies”

  • hala

    they missed Texas on the whole country thing

  • aggy

    You have no idea what you’re talking about. UN membership is not what defines a country. And there are complicated politics around places like Taiwan, Hong Kong and China (which just shows you have no idea about international politics). It is no surprise that Verizon chose to be inclusive with their list in order not to offend those (like the Taiwanese) who have different ideas about what their country is. “According to pretty much every government body in the world, China is China.” Ha, that’s funny. You’re completely ignorant. Don’t talk about things you don’t understand. You’ve just humiliated yourself.

    • Mike

      No, the smoking article I did a while back was humiliating. Take a look at that one. This…humiliating…I think not. China is China. They can consider themselves whatever they want. But as long as the people and governing bodies of peoples that China claims, claim they’re not with China, then China has no ground.

    • Vlad

      Even if every one of the listed “countries” is a legitimate entity by some criteria or the other that still doesn’t mean Verizon is in all of them. It’s not about the actual number of countries but about ridiculously twisted advertising.

      From here to “Verizon is in 500 countries because we have our banner flying in every place that calls itself a country” is not a big stretch.

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  • http://twitter.com/gadgetsteria/status/12227417436 Gadgetsteria

    New Blog post Verizon: "We're available in 220+ countries". World: Uhhh, there's only 196…if you're lucky. http://bit.ly/9eqZVS …

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    This is HILARIOUS! Really… I can’t understand why a company with hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on advertising and advertising agencies can’t double check something as ridiculously simple as how many countries they’re actually REALLY available in…. I won’t even touch that fact that there are simply NOT 223 countries on our planet – that’s just plain DUMB!