Verizon CEO: Verizon Wireless Network Densification Will Drive Deployment of Largest Fiber Network Nationwide

Stakeholders know that because small cells will have shorter range, operators will need a dense fiber network to support them. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam offered a sense of just how dense that network will need to be.

Verizon small cells and densification efforts are driving the deployment of 1700-strand fiber in Boston (MA), where the company is undertaking a major network upgrade, McAdam said. In comparison, he said, the company deployed six-strand fiber when it began deploying its FiOS landline broadband and internet service in the early 2000s. Verizon worked closely with its supplier Corning to get 1700 fiber strands in a single sheath, McAdam said, also noting that the company recently placed a $300 million order with another fiber supplier Prysmian. “The largest fiber network in the country will be wireless” and will be operated by Verizon to provide backhaul and other types of connectivity, said McAdam.