Fitch affirms Verizon

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed Verizon Communications Inc.'s long-term issuer default rating at A, senior unsecured debt at A, short-term issuer default rating at F1 and commercial paper at F1. The agency also assigned an A rating to its $6.2 billion senior unsecured bank facility due April 14, 2013.

The agency also said it will maintain the Rating Watch negative on Verizon North's issuer default rating of A and the A rating on its $200 million unsecured noted due 2028, along with Verizon West Virginia's issuer default rating of A and the A rating on its $50 million private placement notes due 2029.

The outlook for Verizon Communications is stable.

The ratings reflect the significant scale and scope of its domestic wireline and wireless businesses, the high proportion of revenues from wireless and wireline growth areas and, following the acquisition of Alltel Corp. in January 2009, the return by the end of 2010 to a leverage range supportive of the A rating, Fitch said.

Over the next several years, Fitch said it expects the company's contribution to consolidated revenue and EBITDA to continue to increase through continued growth, particularly from wireless data services.

The agency said potential integration risk related to the Alltel acquisition has diminished materially given the strong performance of the wireless segment since the merger.

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