Still no details on mobile 5G launch
Verizon on Tuesday reported its fourth quarter earnings, including a 1.9% year-over-year growth in service revenue, 1.2 million postpaid subscriber adds and year-over-year revenue growth of 2.1% to $24.3 billion. On the wireline side, Verizon’s Fios service picked up 54,000 customers and saw a 2.9% increase in revenue as compared to the year-ago period.
While CEO Hans Vestberg used the earnings report to tout the carrier’s 5G leadership, he didn’t add any specifics as to when the company will expand from its 5G Home service, which is a fixed connection based on an in-house standard, to a mobile service based on 3GPP’s 5G New Radio standard.
In a statement, Vestberg called 2018 a “remarkable year…As we head into 2019 and the 5G era, we’re beginning a period of transformational change. We are laser focused on delivering customers a best-in-class and game-changing experience on our networks.”
In a LinkedIn post, company CFO Matt Ellis detailed 5G milestones from 2018, including over the air testing and the residential broadband service, which is available in parts of four markets. “As we start 2019,” he wrote, “our confidence is high heading into the 5G era and the beginning of what many see as the fourth industrial revolution.”
Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Vestberg was on hand to discuss how 5G will help blend cyber and physical systems as part of the fourth industrial revolution. He made similar comments earlier in the month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For full-year 2018, Verizon reported capex of $16.7 billion and a $10 billion year-over-year increase in cash flow from operations to $34.3 billion.
