Verizon is bullish about home broadband, based on comments by Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis at a financial conference today. The company sees continuing momentum for Fios and believes forthcoming fixed wireless will only complement that Fios growth.
“We are absolutely excited about what we’re seeing in Fios,” said Ellis, who noted that the company’s base of Fios subscribers is more than 5% higher now than it was a year ago.
Fios growth includes more than 300,000 net new subscribers over the last three quarters, he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to Fios growth, as did the company’s Mix & Match strategy, Ellis said. He added that “I don’t see any reason why we should expect that to slow down.”
Mix & Match on Fios, which Verizon launched in early 2020, offers customers flexibility in their video offerings when purchased with Fios fiber broadband. A home phone option is also part of the offering.
Ellis noted that Verizon expects to continue to offer a traditional linear video offering because there is demand for it and it’s an example of “what Mix & Match is all about.”
Fixed Wireless
Ellis was equally optimistic about Verizon’s fixed wireless home broadband offerings, currently available using millimeter wave 5G in some areas and via LTE in areas where sufficient LTE capacity is available.
Before the end of the year, Verizon expects to also offer fixed wireless using C-band spectrum, Ellis noted.
C-band spectrum is considered mid-band spectrum, which many see offering the optimum mixture of speed and range for 5G. The company was the biggest spender in the record-breaking C-band auction, in part because the company won spectrum subject to early clearing.
Verizon expects to have fixed wireless available to 15 million homes by the end of this year, to 30 million homes by 2023 and to 50 million homes by 2025.
Ellis noted that “customers are excited about having a choice in this space” and added that fixed wireless is “absolutely a key part of our growth as we move forward.”
Ellis made his comments at the Credit Suisse Annual Communications Conference. A webcast replay is available at this link.
