Verizon's 5G Rollout Not a Big Challenge to Cable Broadband, New Street Says
A Verizon 5G fixed wireless rollout likely would reach only a small portion of U.S. homes, New Street Research analyst Andrew Entwistle wrote investors Tuesday: The carrier likely will roll out 5G fixed wireless alongside the small cells it will…
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deploy to improve capacity on its 4G mobile wireless network. While 5G fixed wireless could be capable of 1 Gbps speeds and rival cable's triple-play, it said, Verizon may reach an average of 12 homes per small cell node. Even if able to deploy 300,000 such nodes by 2030, that will result in an addressable market of 3 million or 2 percent of homes, it said. If Verizon gets 1.8 million subscribers by 2030, "this is hardly a threat to Cable's broadband business," New Street said. The analyst doesn't anticipate stand-alone 5G fixed wireless deployments will be common, because without the shared 4G/5G infrastructure, the costs "will be challenging." It said wireless carriers lacking fiber infrastructure "will face the greatest challenges in the 5G world," and cable and wireline companies are better positioned because 5G is dependent on fiber access. Verizon didn't comment Tuesday.