Verizon CEO Says 5G Launches Are Going as Well as Expected

Verizon held what CEO Hans Vestberg called the “first earnings call in the 5G mobility era” Tuesday, and as usual the first major carrier to report quarterly. Vestberg was asked about the company’s emphasis on high-band versus mid-band frequencies for 5G. The high band isn’t “coverage spectrum,” but “the throughput and speeds are enormous” in limited areas, he said. “No one else in the whole industry” knows more about 5G than Verizon, he said. Its initial 5G launches are “performing as expected” and the company is on pace to begin services in new markets in the second half of the year, Vestberg said: “As more features within the network enhancements become available … we are providing increased coverage, improved capacity and greater throughputs.” Vestberg emphasized Verizon is in “the very early stages” on 5G. Most handsets that come out next year will have chipsets for high-band spectrum, he said. Phones by Samsung, Motorola and LG available this year will be 5G ready, he said. “The whole ecosystem, from chipsets, to equipment is ramping up quickly,” Vestberg said: “We are in the forefront of technology here, so of course we are … on the edge of the demands and the supply on equipment at the moment.” Verizon added a net 61,000 retail postpaid customers in Q1, including 174,000 postpaid smartphone net adds. Retail postpaid churn was 1.12 percent. Verizon also reported $5.2 billion in profit, compared with $4.7 billion in the year-ago quarter and revenue of $32.1 billion, up 1.1 percent. “Results were a bit mixed, as wireless top-line beat on strong ARPU [average revenue per user], but wireless margins were far weaker than expected, and adds were a touch soft,” said New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin: “On the strategic front, there was little news as the company continues to emphasize their cost-cutting and mmWave 5G efforts.” Other analysts agreed the results were mixed. “Somewhat elevated churn was a disappointment in contrast to a quiet backdrop,” Macquarie’s Amy Yong told investors. “Verizon has a small window to take the charge on 5G and it continues to focus on network leadership. But, signs of commercialization have been slow.”