Verizon CTO: Future Services Will be Based on Four Key Platforms

Future Verizon services will be built on one of four “foundational platforms,” said Verizon Chief Technology Officer Tony Melone, addressing attendees at Genband Perspectives13 in Orlando. Those four platforms, he said, include the company’s 4G LTE network, FiOS, data centers operated under the Terremark name and the company’s global IP backbone.

Verizon’s LTE network now reaches 90% of the U.S. population and will match the company’s 3G footprint before year-end, Melone said. Also on tap for this year are LTE deployments in the AWS band. The company engineers its LTE network for an average of 12 Mbps under “loaded” conditions, he added. Melone also noted that Verizon currently spends about $16 billion a year on spectrum. Upcoming goals for the company’s wireless network include deploying voice over LTE and rich communications services (RCS). But Melone hastened to add that “We will be aggressive but we will also be smart.” Building a nationwide wireless network based on voice over IP is “not trivial,” Melone said, adding that the company will begin delivering such services over that network later this year or early next year.