With Vodafone no longer involved in Verizon Wireless, Verizon will have a new emphasis on services that span its wireless and wireline business, said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam a Morgan Stanley conference today. One example of such services would be a video offering that can move seamlessly between wireless and wireline devices, he said.
“We want to integrate our assets into one set of solutions,” said McAdam. “The first thing [is] to establish product development and [an] emerging business organization.”
McAdam has a new direct report who will be working with teams from the wireline and wireless sides of the company to achieve integration and product development goals.
Other notable information from McAdam’s presentation today:
- Currently there are 20 channels that the company is allowed to make available to mobile customers. But he sees that number rising to 110.
- The company will begin rolling out voice over LTE this year and will begin converting its CDMA network to the technology in 2015.
- Verizon is working with the manufacturer of wireless sensors that can be installed in a parking lot to direct customers to an open parking space at a sports stadium.
- The company sees potential for a set-top box that is “a bit bigger than my thumb” that could connect to mobile devices and which the company gained through its acquisition of On Cue.
- Verizon received approval from the state of Pennsylvania to move customers off of copper lines to a wireless alternative.
- The company has moved 330,000 customers off of copper wiring and onto FiOS.
- McAdam believes stakeholders are beginning to understand that network operators need the ability to prioritize certain types of traffic to support critical capabilities such as healthcare apps.
- If Verizon can find the right model, McAdam believes the company can get a “virtuous cycle” where both video and over-the-top offerings make gains.
