A big day. A big month.

On today’s Up To Speed Live, Diana was joined by Hans, Ronan and Marissa Munoz of our Business Strategy team and co-lead of SOMOS, our Latinx Employee Resource Group, who shared the following updates.

Tracfone acquisition

Hans and Ronan announced that we’ve entered into an agreement with America Movil to acquire Tracfone, the leading pre-paid and value mobile provider in the United States. The acquisition expands our portfolio in the value segment, bringing our industry-leading wireless network and comprehensive suite of mobility products and services to a new customer base.

“This is a segment we know,” said Ronan. “We’ve partnered with Tracfone for 15 years, but in a segment where we were underrepresented. It’s a great news story not just for us, but for consumers who now get the best of both worlds.”

Wildfire/storm update

As fires continue to rage in multiple western U.S. states, our network continues to perform well with no significant impacts to our network availability and performance. As reported earlier, Unlimited calling, texting and data has been extended to customers in parts of Oregon.

Hurricane Sally is bearing down on the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. While winds will not be as much of a factor as they were with Hurricane Laura, heavy rains and a storm surge from the slow moving system have greater potential to cause severe flooding.

Donate to the VtoV employee relief fund and help support V Teamers impacted by wildfires or storms.

A letter of thanks

We received a touching letter from Jaci Sanders, an Oregon woman who keeps close tabs on her mother who lives alone and was impacted by the wildfires. Jaci wrote: “ Many people in the area were stranded without any communication with emergency/911 services. Fortunately, Verizon had deployed an emergency response team to help. I have been told by many people that Verizon was the only carrier to work in Okanogan County for days. Your team is to be commended and praised for their timeliness and courage. I am forever grateful to your team for keeping me in communications with my mother when she couldn’t reach anyone else.”

Hispanic Heritage Month

Ronan kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month by introducing Marissa Munoz, SOMOS co-lead, who explained the organization’s new name. “We recognized that we are not just in the U.S., but a global group, so we needed a new home and a new foundation,” explained Marissa. “SOMOS means ‘we are’ in both Spanish and Portugese and is gender-neutral. Our mission is to be the voice of the Latinx community globally.”

Our Hispanic Heritage month celebration will include the following upcoming events:

• “Count Us In: The Census, The Election and the Latinx Community” is a lively panel discussion focusing on the importance of participating in the census and 2020 election hosted by our own Diana Alvear. The event will be livestreamed on Yahoo News tomorrow at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT.
• This Sunday, together with Univision, we are presenting the next Uforia livestream concert. You’ll be front row with Bad Bunny, a singer, rapper, songwriter from Puerto Rico and one of the biggest stars in the world.
• We’re launching the Verizon Latino Apple Music Room.
• We’ve partnered with the Paley Center for Media to stream a number of the organization’s signature events, including “Tribute to Hispanic Achievements in Television,” featuring Natalie Morales and Alex Rodriguez. The event will stream on Yahoo properties.

Mi Historia

Ronan introduced the premiere episode of Mi Historia, which featured Maria Martinez Herrera, Coordinator of Planning & Analysis in Rolling Meadows, IL. Maria shared her story of coming to the United States, starting first grade without knowing a word of English, being in a gifted English class by 4th grade and taking on five different roles in her first five years at Verizon.

If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.

Click here for a transcript of the webcast.

Get the latest information on our Coronavirus Resource Page (Inside Verizon, The Street).

Reminder, tune in to Up To Speed Live tomorrow at 12 PM ET/9 AM PT.

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