Verizon today announced its Q1 2022 earnings results through which it provided updates on its i) 5G network roll-out, ii) fixed wireless access (FWA) products, iii) Fios fiber internet business, iv) C-band capital expenditures and deployment milestones, and v) targets for its mobile edge computing (MEC) & B2B solutions offerings.
Verizon’s 5G Network Update – Q1 2022
5G Phone Adoption
Verizon’s subscriber base using 5G-capable devices rose to 40% of its customers as of Q1 2022. Long-term, Verizon expects 60%+ of its subscriber base to be using 5G-capable devices by year-end 2023, rising to 80%+ using 5G-capable devices by year-end 2025.
5G Ultra Wideband (mmWave and C-band)
Verizon’s mmWave (high-band) 5G mobility service represents ~10% of Verizon’s network traffic in dense urban areas. To enable this high-capacity network, Verizon is deploying small cell infrastructure. As of Q1 2022, Verizon has deployed a total of 35k+ high-band (mmWave) cell sites, using small cell infrastructure.
In comparison, Verizon covers ~113 million points-of-presence (PoPs) with C-band (mid-band) 5G mobility service. Notably, where C-band is deployed, 30% of all of Verizon’s wireless traffic uses C-band spectrum.
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)
Verizon’s fixed wireless access (FWA) products are called 5G Home and 5G Business Internet. During Q1 2022, Verizon had 194k net customer additions across all its FWA broadband services. Indeed, this brings the company’s total FWA subscribers to 433k as of quarter-end. Below is a further breakdown of Verizon’s FWA broadband net customer additions, by its consumer and business segments:
FWA Broadband Net Adds by Segment – Verizon
By year-end 2025, Verizon expects to have 50 million consumer households and 14 million businesses covered with FWA. Across these 64 million customer locations, Verizon is targeting 4 to 5 million subscribers by year-end 2025, which implies a ~7% penetration rate, at the mid-point.
Of Verizon’s total FWA subscriber projections, the company expects to have 3 to 4 million consumer subscribers and 1+ million business subscribers.
Verizon Fios Fiber Update – Q1 2022
Fios, Verizon’s brand for its 100% fiber optic broadband service, operates in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. During Q1 2022, revenues for Verizon’s Fios (consumer and business) fiber business increased to $3.21bn, up 2.2% year-over-year.
| $ in mm | Q1 2022 | Q1 2021 | % Change |
| Consumer | $2,911 | $2,860 | 1.8% |
| Business | $295 | $276 | 6.9% |
| Fios Revenue | $3,206 | $3,136 | 2.2% |
*Note Fios Revenue includes Fios internet, video, and digital voice revenue.
For Q1 2022, Fios Internet had net customer additions, in its consumer and business segments, of 60k. Indeed, this represents ~30k fewer net customer additions during the quarter, as compared to Fios Internet’s prior four-quarter average of 90k net customer additions. However, Fios Internet’s net customer additions were slightly ahead of the 55k figure that Verizon posted during Q4 2021.
| in 000s | Q1 2022 | Q1 2021 | % Change |
| Consumer | 55 | 98 | -44% |
| Business | 5 | 4 | 25% |
| Fios Internet Net Adds | 60 | 102 | -41% |
Overall, Fios Internet’s 6.96 million consumer and business customer base is 4.8% higher than a year ago.
| in 000s | Q1 2022 | Q1 2021 | % Change |
| Consumer | 6,596 | 6,300 | 4.7% |
| Business | 361 | 339 | 6.5% |
| Fios Internet Connections | 6,957 | 6,639 | 4.8% |
Long-Term
Verizon Fios Internet is currently “open for sale” to ~16.5 million households and the company plans to increase its sellable locations by 550k homes and businesses in 2022. By year-end 2025, Verizon Fios Internet expects to reach 18 million households and anticipates securing ~8 million subscribers. As such, Verizon is forecasting a ~44% penetration rate for its Fios Internet service.
C-band – Capital Expenditures and Deployments
For full-year 2022, Verizon expects to have capital spending, excluding C-band, in the range of $16.5bn to $17.5bn. In addition to this figure, Verizon will make further capital expenditures related to the deployment of its C-band 5G network.
During Q1 2022, Verizon’s C-band network spending totaled $1.5bn. Additionally, below is a breakdown of Verizon’s future C-band spending by year:
- 2022: $5bn to $6bn for C-band capital expenditures in 2022
- 2023: $2bn to $3bn of C-band capital expenditures in 2023. Post-2023, Verizon’s accelerated C-band spending will end and, instead, become part of its ‘business-as-usual’ capital expenditures
Presently, Verizon covers ~113 million points-of-presence (PoPs) with C-band throughout the United States. By year-end 2022, Verizon projects it will reach 175 million PoPs with C-band – which is one year earlier than originally anticipated. Finally, by year-end 2024, Verizon plans to reach 250 million PoPs with C-band.
Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) & B2B Solutions
Verizon expects to generate $2bn+ in revenue growth from mobile edge computing (MEC) and B2B solutions, from 2022 to 2025, driven by:
- Internet of Things (IoT): revenue growth supported by a double-digit connections compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2025, off baseline revenue of $1.5bn+ in 2021
- Public MEC: ~$1bn of growth from Public MEC by year-end 2025. Note that Verizon has partnerships with cloud service providers including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud
- Private Networks: scaling business to deliver private MEC and solutions revenue
Overall, by 2025, Verizon foresees a total addressable market (TAM) of $30bn for private networks, mobile edge computing (MEC), and 5G enterprise solutions.
