Verizon CEO Predicts More Than 50% of US Will Have 5G Network Access in 2020

Subscribers in more than half the U.S. could use a 5G phone on a 5G network in 2020, said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg on CNBC Friday. The market will be “different for sure” if T-Mobile buys Sprint and Dish Network launches its own network, he said. “We will not change our strategy." Vestberg predicted T-Mobile/Sprint will probably be completed with “some hurdles left.” The market has been competitive for years, he said. Vestberg said to “get the best out of 5G” requires high-band spectrum. “I think we have the best engineers in the industry both tuning and fixing networks. Other guys really need to do a lot of things to catch up," he said. His team is “executing on our 5G strategy, and we're now up to 15 markets” (see 1910250022) Vestberg said during a call with analysts. The uptake rate is rising for 5G phones and all handsets “coming out next year will be 5G-capable,” he said. Verizon reported profit of $5.3 billion and revenue of $32.9 billion, both beating consensus estimates. Wireline revenue fell 3.8 percent year over year. It reported 193,000 retail postpaid net adds, including 239,000 phones, and retail postpaid churn of 0.79 percent. “Wireline results, while admittedly secondary to wireless, were nothing short of awful,” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett wrote investors: “Verizon’s wireless business is, for the first time in memory, lagging AT&T’s." AT&T, not Verizon, "has the better story to tell about balancing 5G speed AND coverage,” the analyst emailed.