Verizon's McAdam: 'I see a future of converged services'

Verizon Communications' (NYSE:VZ) recent decision to purchase the 45 percent of Verizon Wireless that Vodafone owned for $130 billion is going to make the company more unified and allow it to become more agile and innovative, said the telco's chairman and CEO.

Lowell McAdam, Verizon

McAdam (Image source: Verizon)

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs 22nd Annual Communacopia Conference today, Lowell McAdam said the company will reap the benefits of its purchase of the rest of Verizon Wireless by being able to more fully integrate its services. 

"When I look at cloud, security, telematics, FiOS and the mobile assets coming together, I think there will be services that we will see in 12 to 24 months that will allow us to utilize all of those," he said.  "I see a future of converged services."

McAdam said that the company is already making strides in integrating wireless and wireline. Under the Verizon One program, the company has already merged its financial operations, created one supply chain and one product development group, which McAdam said is critical to the company's video products.

On the wireline side, McAdam said that John Stratton, president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, has already eliminated 200 products this year in an effort to streamline the wireline business and reduce costs. "This type of discipline helps us streamline the infrastructure and makes it easier to do business with us," he said.

McAdam noted that Verizon's FiOS broadband service has an average market share of 33 percent and its video service has an average market share of about 30 percent, but that the company is gaining in some markets, particularly Texas where it has a 50 percent penetration rate in broadband.  Interestingly, he also noted that New York City is the fastest growing market for FiOS, but not because of Time Warner Cable's (NYSE: TWC) recent retransmission battle with CBS.

McAdam also said that he expects to see major shifts with FiOS because the company is focusing on making it more efficient. For example, Verizon is testing a media server in the home which eliminates all coaxial cable and slashes installation time.    

For more:
- see this transcript

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