Verizon wants to run every part of your life

Verizon no longer wants to be your mother's Ma Bell spinoff. Sure, the company is still viewed by many as a sleepy telecommunication company. But it is trying to reshape itself into a mobile technology giant with tentacles in the worlds of media as well as connected cars. The ink is barely dry on Verizon's $4.8 billion purchase of Yahoo's core operating assets. But Verizon announced another notable acquisition with the purchase of Ireland-based vehicle tracking firm Fleetmatics for $2.4 billion. The deal will bring Verizon more than 37,000 customers and 737,000 subscribers for Fleetmatics' software, which helps track vehicle location, fuel usage, speed and mileage among other things. Verizon clearly realizes mobility isn't just about people texting, Snapchatting and watching YouTube videos on their smartphones.

Mobility is also the use of technology to make it easier for people and businesses to access information in their cars or trucks. Yahoo is a mobile bet too. The acquisition of Yahoo shows that Verizon also wants to be part of the mobile advertising and content arena. The combination of Yahoo and AOL -- which Verizon scooped up for $4.4 billion in 2015 -- has the potential to gain more ground in the battle for mobile supremacy -- a war that is currently being won by Google and Facebook.