Verizon CFO says Fios expansion offers cost, environmental benefits

Verizon may not be pursuing a massive expansion of its fiber footprint like some competitors, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t see value in the smaller scale work it’s doing with Fios. Verizon CFO Matt Ellis said the company is working to add around 400,000 open-for-sale locations within its incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) footprint in 2021 and for “at least the next two to three years.” Some of these additions are related to new build activity, with Verizon swooping in to “wire Fios in upfront” in houses and apartment buildings as they’re constructed by developers. But Ellis noted Verizon is also continuing efforts to replace copper with fiber, giving it the opportunity to pull out copper assets that are expensive to operate and have higher emissions than newer equipment. There “continues to be an opportunity to expand the Fios footprint within our existing ILEC space and not just get the revenue opportunities from expanding the size of the Fios customer base, but also some cost benefits and green benefits from removing some of the copper network at the same time,” he said.