Verizon bosses hailed progress in mmWave and C-Band 5G, along with fixed wireless access (FWA) growth despite the operator reporting an overall loss in mobile subscribers in Q1, a day after rival AT&T posted significant gains.

Post-paid phone losses of 36,000 subscribers year-on-year contrasted with the 691,000 additions AT&T reported yesterday (21 April). However, FWA proved a bright spot for Verizon, accounting for 194,000 of 229,000 broadband net additions during the period.

Verizon is using C-Band and mmWave spectrum for the FWA service.

On its earnings call, CEO Hans Vestberg noted Verizon is deploying C-band at pace, boosting customer experience “while also accelerating and amplifying our 5G revenue opportunities”.

Verizon reported net income of $4.7 billion, down from $5.4 billion in Q1 2021, on revenue of $33.6 billion, up slightly from $32.9 billion.

Wireless service revenue grew 9.5 per cent to $18.3 billion.

The operator reported 35,000 wireline broadband net additions, driven by 60,000 Fios Internet adds: it does not break out subscribers losses for its DSL service.