Verizon Pleased With C-Band Build; Using Millimeter-Wave in Unexpected Ways

Verizon is deploying C-band spectrum in rural and less dense markets, with more than 250 million POPs expected to be covered in the next few quarters, Joe Russo, president-global networks and technology, said during a Wells Fargo conference Tuesday. That’s up from 230 million POPs in the latest announcement. “POPs covered isn't exactly my goal,” Russo said. “My goal is to get capacity and performance into the network where customers want to use it when they need it, where they need it,” he said. Verizon plans to deploy the band in all U.S. markets, which will happen over the next few years, he said. “We'll follow where customer demand is. … Where we see we need capacity, coverage or capabilities in the network, that's where we'll target next.” Verizon is targeting 350,000-400,000 net fixed wireless adds a quarter, using spectrum it already has deployed, he said. It is seeing “more and more enterprises look to us” for fixed wireless access, “both for backup and primary connections,” he said. Companies that have branches in different locations want access to the same level of throughput in all branches, he said. Verizon is also pleased with the performance of its high-band spectrum, which it’s using in ways the company didn’t expect a few years ago, Russo said. “It's a great tool in our toolbox to handle capacity and to allow customers to do things they never could do before in certain areas,” he said: “If you've been to a Taylor Swift concert, all of those people, our customers, are there and they want to stream that experience with their friends and family, and you couldn't do that in a 4G world.”