Our future starts today.
Hans and Kyle discuss the results of the FCC C-Band Auction and what it means going forward.
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On today’s special Thursday edition of Up To Speed Live, host Andy Choi welcomed special guests CEO Hans Vestberg and Global Network & Technology leader Kyle Malady, who discussed the results of the FCC C-Band auction.
“It’s a very big day for Verizon,” declared Hans, who went on to say that the company took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Hans and Kyle reiterated what they had shared at last night’s Investor Day meeting: Spectrum is the lifeblood of our industry, and it’s a scarce resource. This was the largest auction in the history of the industry and there won’t be another like it in the foreseeable future. Our disciplined strategy and strong balance sheet enabled us to be aggressive and make a spectrum investment that now sets us up for the next stage of growth and beyond.
We succeeded in more than doubling our existing mid-band spectrum holdings by adding an average of 161 MHz of C-Band nationwide for $52.9 billion, including incentive payments and clearing costs. Our C-Band licenses will cover the entire contiguous United States. This was the best spectrum available in this auction, and when combined with our other holdings, makes our spectrum position the strongest in the industry.
We acquired this C-Band spectrum because it fits perfectly within our multi-purpose, network-as-a-service strategy. Whether it’s through 5G Mobility, Fixed Wireless Access or Mobile Edge Compute or any of these other technologies, we are looking at breakthroughs that both solidify and expand the total addressable market that Verizon serves — setting us up to achieve our more than three percent growth goal.
Kyle admitted it had been hard for him to not talk about the results during the official quiet period. “It’s like it’s Christmas and I know I have these presents for the kids and I haven’t been able to share it with them until today. Now we can get the entire V Team involved to make this the best experience for our customers.”
Hans emphasized that all five of our vectors of growth are in play with this additional spectrum:
- 5G adoption (Home and Mobility)
- Network monetization
- Next-gen B2B applications
- Customer differentiation
- New markets
Hans reiterated that this new C-Band spectrum will only amplify and accelerate our existing strategy, and Kyle emphasized that we’re already preparing and working so that we will be ready to deploy this spectrum as soon as we have access to it. They also answered V Teamer questions that came in live via Twitter. To hear the answers and all the other details that Hans and Kyle shared, watch the full video.
If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.
Click here for a transcript of the webcast.
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