Verizon Wireless (legally Cellco Partnership, commonly shortened to Verizon), is an American telecommunications company which offers wireless products and services. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications. With 149 million subscribers as of October 2017, Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States. The company is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. It was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of American telecommunications firm Bell Atlantic, which would soon become Verizon Communications, and British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone. Verizon Communications became the sole owner in 2014 after buying Vodafone's 45-percent stake in the company. It operates a national 4G LTE network covering about 98 percent of the U.S. population, which in December 2015 won or tied for top honors in each category of the RootMetrics RootScore Reports. Verizon Wireless offers mobile phone services through a variety of devices. Its LTE in Rural America Program, with 21 rural wireless carriers participating, covers 2.7 million potential users in 169 rural counties. Verizon Wireless announced in 2015 that it was developing a 5G, or fifth generation, network.