Verizon CEO Expects Fixed-Wireless Growth as C-Band Is Cleared
Verizon has deployed 20-25% of its C-band spectrum, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said at a Goldman Sachs financial conference Thursday. “We still don't have the most spectrum, but we always have gotten the best performance out of it,” he said.…
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Verizon has shown in markets where it has C band that “we have better step-ups” and lower churn and the carrier is attracting fixed-wireless customers, he said. Verizon’s fiber footprint is sometimes underappreciated, Vestberg said. The carrier has more than 60,000 route miles connecting its network nodes, he said. “You need fiber from the data center to the edge of the network in order to transport all the data,” he said. Vestberg said the wireless market is competitive, but he welcomes the competition. “We should fight every day for our customers,” he said. The economics favor providers that own their own facilities, he said: “I own my network. I own my fiber. I own my radios. I can do broadband. I can do fixed broadband. I can do fixed-wireless broadband. I can do wireless. Everything is owned by us.” The C band deployed so far has been in urban markets because that was the first to be cleared, and that’s where Verizon’s fixed-wireless offering has been selling the fastest, he said. The remainder of the spectrum is coming in two parts -- C band yet to be cleared in urban markets and covering suburban and rural areas, he said. “We have not even started with fixed-wireless access in many of those markets,” he said.