While there are 5G networks already live in the United States (US), the technology is still in its early stages. Only a handful number of people in the country consume 5G services, the majority of the users are still on 4G networks. Verizon said that its financial performance for the rest of the year should be better. This should happen on the back of the increasing 5G adoption rate and the fact that more people will soon be picking much more expensive plans. Verizon said that 20% of its user base is already using 5G smartphones.
Verizon Plans to Deploy Over 8,000 C-Band Sites This Year
For the unaware, C-Band spectrum ranges from 4 GHz to 8 GHz. The company said that it has already put more than $160 million in capex for deploying C-Band in the first half of 2021. Hans Vestberg, CEO and Chairman of Verizon said that the company has all the resources it needs to deploy 8,000 C-Band sites by the end of this year.
One of the other big announcements that was made by the company was regarding its mmWave sites. Verizon said that it is much ahead of its schedule in deploying additional 14,000 mmWave sites in 2021. This will allow the operator to take its tally of mmWave sites up to 30,000 and will be able to cover over 1 to 2 million households with mmWave 5G networks.
With the rising demand for 5G services and more 5G smartphones flooding the market every month, Verizon believes that its revenues should only go up from here. The telecom operator is very confident that people will be ready to purchase its expensive plans in the near future. Verizon reported a net income of $5.9 billion and said that its operating revenues for the quarter were 11% higher than the same time last year.
