Verizon is seeing potential in the fixed mobile convergence (FMC) concept, leveraging its array of wireline and wireless assets.
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) is the seamless connectivity between fixed and wireless networks.
During its second-quarter earnings call, Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, told investors that it is seeing “some uptick on that,” emphasizing that it will “follow the customers.”
He added that the provider is well-positioned to support customers who want to have a converged service experience.
“If the market converges between mobility and broadband, we will be there to serve our customers either with Fios or fixed wireless access,” Vestberg said. “And right now, that's working well for us. So, we're happy with our assets and how we're deploying them right now. We're looking into how we continue to meet our customer demands.”
A customized experience
As Verizon considers its FMC future, one of its initial moves is to let customers customize their mobile and broadband plans with its myHome program.
myHome allows customers to customize how they get broadband and content. As part of the new program, an extension of its popular myPlan mobile offering, it has an always-on guaranteed phone trade-in program for new and existing mobility customers.
This program is an extension of Verizon’s myPlan, which was launched last year to provide consumers with a customizable plan that allows them to pay for only what they use. The telco also refreshed its brand and its logo.
With myHome, all new and existing Verizon Home Internet customers can choose the available Fios, 5G Home, or LTE Home Internet plan that matches their household needs. Customers can select content perks from top streaming services for just $10/month.
Customers can also choose from connected home perks like Cloud storage, Walmart+, and our new Home Device Advisor perk.
“We launched myHome on the consumer side, as you saw in the quarter,” Vestberg said. “All the benefits we have from myPlan are moving over to myHome. So, I feel good about what our consumer division is doing on broadband and mobility now with the product.”
Fios, FWA broadband gains
As Verizon considers its FMC future, the service provider continues to rack up broadband subscribers, a trend that continued into the second quarter.
Verizon added 391,000 new broadband subscribers during the quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter with more than 375,000 broadband net additions.
The telco ended the quarter with over 11.5 million broadband subscribers, a 17% increase from a year ago.
Specifically, Verizon added 378,000 fixed wireless subscribers. At the end of the second quarter of 2024, the company had a base of more than 3.8 million fixed wireless subscribers, representing an increase of nearly 69 percent yearly.
It also saw gains in Fios as it added 28,000 new subscribers during the quarter.
“On broadband health, we have been between 375,000 and 400,000 net adds in broadband this quarter, which has been for quite a while, so we see it as very healthy,” Vestberg said. And now, with myHome that we just announced, I think we're going to be even stronger on it.”
From an overall financial perspective, Verizon reported a consolidated net income of $4.7 billion for the second quarter, down from $4.8 billion in the second quarter of 2023.
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.