Verizon Communications has revealed that its investment in 5G network is aimed at enhancing business growth in coming years. Verizon never revealed the number of 5G connections on its network though it started selling 5G services to smartphone customers in 2019.
Verizon said 5G Ultra Wideband network will be available to 175 million people by year-end 2022.

Verizon is planning Capex of $21.5 billion to build its communication network across the United States. The primary focus of the spending will be in building 5G network.

“This new fast tracked timeline is made possible by the pace of deployment achieved by Verizon’s network engineering team,” Hans Vestberg, Verizon Chairman and CEO said in a news statement on Thursday.

The expansion of Verizon’s C-Band coverage provides additional growth opportunities in nationwide broadband with over 150,000 net additions expected for fixed wireless access alone in the first quarter of 2022.

Verizon plans to expands its fixed wireless coverage of households and businesses, disrupting an existing market and capturing share; becoming its second largest contributor to revenue growth.

Verizon aims to cover 50 million households and 14 million businesses, and have 4 to 5 million total fixed wireless subscribers by year end 2025.

Verizon expects to generate service and other revenue growth of approximately three percent in 2022, excluding the net impact of the sale of Verizon Media and the company’s ownership of TracFone; at least three percent in 2023; and four percent in 2024 and beyond.

Verizon is expecting reduced capital intensity to below 12 percent in 2024 following the conclusion of the initial C-Band build.

5G network will be the source for the company’s growth over the next several years. Verizon built the Network-as-a-Service strategy to drive the 5G economy through an ever-expanding volume of services and technologies that are enabled by 5G Ultra Wideband’s capacity to connect to a massive number of devices at high speed.

Verizon outlined multiple paths to growth: 5G Mobility, Nationwide Broadband, Mobile Edge Compute (MEC) and business solutions, the Value Market and Network Monetization, stating expectations that it will drive 4 percent service and other revenue growth for the company in 2024 and beyond.

“Through our deliberate strategy of investment and divestment we have already significantly increased the size of our addressable market which, over the next 5 years, should grow an additional $120 billion. We chose a strategy where we not only participate in a much larger market but also a market where we are in the leading position in our paths to growth,” said Hans Vestberg, Verizon Chairman and CEO.

Over the next decade, the metaverse will enable immersive, interconnected and interoperable digital spaces to help people connect. These metaverse experiences will be delivered across all screens, at home, at work, and on the go and customers will want to have those experiences on 5G network.

Verizon’s partnership with Meta aims to couple Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network and edge compute capabilities with Meta’s technologies to understand the foundational requirements for metaverse applications.

Verizon announced +play (plus play), exclusive to Verizon customers. This direct-to-consumer platform allows users to purchase and manage some of their favorite subscriptions across entertainment, audio, gaming, fitness, lifestyle and more – ALL in one place. +play builds on the content Verizon already offers through leading providers including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, discovery+ and AMC+.

Limited trials of +play will begin at the end of this month with an expected commercial launch later this year. Verizon expects the product to generate significant revenues from subscription, increase customer loyalty and improve its market-leading retention rates.

Verizon Business announced a cost competitive, turn-key private networking solution with Celona, that will accelerate the use of private 5G to support business initiatives. Verizon and Celona will offer one solution with a common relationship, contract, support center and implementation team.

Verizon’s On Site LTE and 5G solution provides customers a private and secure on-premises cellular wireless network on which to run critical business applications and operations. Verizon customers can now use a Celona LAN to deploy the private core on-premise, or on any private or public cloud.