At its annual meeting, Vodafone will have to deal with the decision of whether to keep its minority stake in Verizon Wireless, a top mobile operator in the United States. Rebel Vodafone shareholder, Efficient Capital Structures (ECS), wants investors to support a resolution that would spin off the company's 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless. The board has rejected the resolution, however, and the management of Vodafone is fairly sure that most investors will bet behind its decision. However, this is unlikely to put the issue to rest, since the board of Vodafone will still have to decide by early August, 2007, whether to exercise a put option. This would entitle the group, which is based in the United Kingdom, to sell as much as $10 billion worth of shares in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications. Verizon Communications is the second-largest telecommunications company in the United States, and it owns 55 percent of the stock in Verizon Wireless. This is the fifth and final year that Vodafone would be able to exercise a put option and sell part of its stake in the company. In the past four years, Vodafone decided not to use the option, and analysts predict it will continue down this same path in 2007. Vodafone does not have what could be called a straightforward partnership with Verizon Communications, and the two companies are in a stand-off. Verizon Communications has tried to obtain full ownership of Verizon Wireless since 2004, but has thus far been unable to convince Vodafone to sell its shares.