If you’re a customer in Verizon’s Fios territory, get ready to hear more about its fixed and mobile bundles. During the operator’s Q4 2022 earnings call, CEO Hans Vestberg hinted it plans to double down on efforts to sell Fios subscribers and small and medium businesses (SMBs) on its mixed service packages.
Verizon has been offering mix and match bundles for fixed and mobile services since early 2020. But Vestberg said on the call consumers increasingly see a “clear advantage” to getting their home broadband and wireless service from a single provider. The same goes for SMBs, which are looking for more convenient options.
While Vestberg said Verizon thinks of fixed wireless the same way as Fios when it comes to bundling its products, he acknowledged there may be more room for growth within its Fios footprint. That’s because fixed wireless is a newer product which is bringing in new customers, and as such, sign up conversations include a discussion about bundling benefits from the get-go. Verizon’s base in Fios markets, by contrast, is much more mature, meaning those conversations aren’t necessarily happening.
“I would say that we probably have a big opportunity on the Fios segment to have customers both on the fixed and the mobile,” Vestberg explained. “On the fixed wireless access, I think there you start actually in a strong position when you start offering fixed wireless access, with many of the customers sort of coming in from a cable provider and they have our wireless and that’s how they move over to us.”
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Verizon gained a total of 416,000 broadband customers in Q4 2022, a figure nearly four times the net additions it posted in Q4 2021 and its best performance in more than a decade, according to Vestberg. The vast majority (379,000) of its gains came from fixed wireless, but it also added 59,000 Fios customers. However, it lost 22,000 DSL subscribers, leaving it with a total of 37,000 wireline net additions.
It ended the quarter with 17.1 million Fios locations open for sale and more than 40 million households covered by fixed wireless access.
Consolidated revenue of $35.3 billion was up 3.5% year on year, with Fios revenue across its consumer and business segments flat at $3.2 billion. Net income jumped 41.4% to $6.7 billion.