Verizon’s chief executive officer Lowell McAdam has revealed that the once the 5G wireless service is launched in the years to come, the carrier will be in a better position to reach new customers beyond its Northeast stronghold with its high-speed wireless offerings. The company’s FioS network currently stretches from Boston in Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.
“There is a huge part of the U.S. that we don’t provide those services to, and we knew going in and doing a Fios-like build didn’t make any sense economically,” said McAdam during the JPMorgan Tech, Media and Telecommunications conference that was being held in Boston.
Fixed wireless service
This could potentially make Verizon a significant player in the delivery of the over-the-top video services as well as broadband. It is understood that Verizon is at present working on the over-the-top video offering though its chief executive officer would not be specific during the JPMorgan Tech, Media and Telecommunications conference.
Media deals
In the past, the wireless carrier has formed partnerships with players in the media industry such as Hearst. The carrier also has a couple of media deals lined up. For instance, Verizon has received the rights this season from the National Football League to stream a game from London. The telecom giant has also been carrying National Women’s Soccer League games. It is understood that Verizon will be more involved in media when the Yahoo acquisition deal closes next month.
During the JPMorgan Tech, Media and Telecommunications event McAdam denied there were any plans by Verizon to acquire a major player in the media sector. This followed weeks-long speculation that the carrier was going to enter into talks with some publicly listed media giants. Despite the possibility of a merger with a major media sector player not being likely any time soon, Verizon and Comcast have gone ahead to partner in a deal which will see Comcast operating a new mobile service on Verizon’s network.
