Verizon outlines 5G-era growth strategy at investor conference

Verizon outlined its strategy for revenue and profitability growth in 2019 and beyond, built on the expansion of its network leadership in the 5G era. Discussion items included:

• Verizon’s plans to launch its 5G Ultra Wideband Network in more than 30 US cities in 2019. Verizon 5G Mobility will launch in the first half of 2019, and Verizon 5G Home will expand coverage to more markets in the second half of 2019. Verizon executives claimed these will be the first true 5G mobile markets, dismissing AT&T’s claim (although not by name) to be first with mobile 5G. The distinction, Verizon notes,  is they are lighting up entire markets, not just one or two cell sites within a market.
• An update about the One Fiber program that is rolling out in more than 60 cities across the US, with more than 25,000 Verizon-owned fiber miles expected to be deployed by year-end.
• Verizon also offered some thoughts regarding the future of broadband, with some viewpoints suggesting mobile-only broadband will be a growing trend that they intend to capitalize on. A couple of Verizon executives suggested mobile-broadband substitution in a 5G world will accelerate, with consumers opting for a single broadband connection to power their life. “We want our customers to define what broadband they need, some might need 4G, some might need fiber, some might need 5G,” said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “That’s what we see ourselves doing and that’s the platform we’re building with intelligent edge network."