Verizon Second-Quarter Reflects Continued Fixed Wireless and Fiber Growth
Verizon executives said the company is continuing to look into lead-clad cable concerns.
Teralyn Whipple
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2023 – During Verizon’s second quarter call Tuesday morning, CEO Hans Vestberg highlighted the company’s success with its combination of fixed wireless access and fiber optic network.
Vestberg said that the customer satisfaction measures for wireless networks are higher than its cable networks. Broadband services are adding to the overall growth of the business, he said — “fixed wireless is here to stay.”
The company added more than 400,000 net new broadband additions in fiber and fixed wireless access for three consecutive quarters and is on track to meet its goal of having 45 million fixed wireless customers by the end of 2025, it reported.
The “demonstrates the momentum of our growth trajectory,” said Vestberg. “In broadband, the combination of fixed wireless access and fiber is winning as we capitalize on the unique strengths and capabilities of both technologies.”
He added that Verizon’s leadership position will continue to be strengthened as the company rolls out and continues to innovate within the 5G network by finding ways to optimize the C-band spectrum, the band of spectrum most suited for 5G applications.
The company noted that it is continuing to conduct its own internal and third-party investigation into the thousands of lead-sheathed cables that recently received press attention due to their potential to harm Americans.
Verizon said it will take these concerns seriously, “communities we serve are the heart of everything we do,” said Vestberg. The company will take a “fact and science-based approach” in the assessment of the danger that lead-clad cables pose to communities.
Tony Skiadas, chief financial officer, said that Verizon’s lead cables do not run into homes and have a low probability of lead exposure to residents when not disturbed. The company refused to present an estimated cost for removal of the cables, saying that there is “no meaningful way” to estimate the cost to the company and that any such estimate would not be useful.
The company’s total revenue was $32.6 billion, down 3.5 percent from Q2 2022. The company added 2.3 million postpaid wireless additions in the quarter, up 2 percent year over year, for a total retail subscriber base of roughly 114 million. The company in the quarter had 54,000 fiber internet net additions, an increase from 30,000 in Q2 2022. It had net additions of 251,000 for fixed wireless access, with only 168 in Q2 2022. It has a total of 8.4 million broadband subscriptions, a 1 million increase from last year.
