Verizon detailed wide-ranging network expansion plans for 2021, outlining goals to nearly double the number of cities covered by its mmWave-based 5G home internet and mobile edge compute (MEC) services.

On its 2020 earnings call, CEO Hans Vestberg (pictured) said it has a “big year” ahead, noting it aims to add 14,000 mmWave 5G sites to raise its total to more than 30,000 by the year-end.

He added the deployment will allow it to expand the footprint of its mmWave-based 5G mobile and home internet services to at least an additional 20 cities each. It also plans to add MEC sites in ten more cities.

By end-2020, Verizon had deployed mmWave-based mobile 5G in 61 cities; home broadband in 12; and MEC in ten.

Financials
Net profit in Q4 2020 dropped 9.6 per cent year-on-year to $4.7 billion, with revenue flat at $34.7 billion.

Wireless revenue was flat at $25.1 billion, comprised of service turnover of $16.7 billion (up 2.2 per cent); equipment sales of $6.4 billion (5.1 per cent lower) and other at $2 billion (broadly flat).

Verizon added 653,000 mobile subscribers, down from 1.1 million: of this, additions of high-value post-paid phone customers accounted for 279,000, compared with the 791,000 it added in Q4 2019.

Its Media unit posted its first quarter of year-on-year growth since 2017, with revenue up 11.4 per cent to $2.3 billion.

For 2021, Verizon forecast revenue growth of at least 2 per cent and capex of between $17.5 billion and $18.5 billion.

Vestberg said it expects headwinds related to Covid-19 (coronavirus) to continue, highlighting roaming revenue and “subdued” activity among small and medium businesses as key challenges.