Verizon’s Fios internet net additions may have slowed year on year in Q4, but CEO Hans Vestberg noted during an earnings call its total for the full-year 2021 was the highest in more than five years.
The operator posted 106,000 total broadband net additions in the quarter, up from 76,000 in Q4 2020. That figure included 78,000 fixed wireless access (FWA) and 55,000 Fios Internet adds as well as the loss of 27,000 DSL customers.
While the quarterly Fios figure was down significantly from 95,000 net additions in Q4 2020, full year Fios Internet gains in 2021 totaled 360,000. Vestberg pointed to this tally as the company’s best annual result since 2014.
Though analysts noted Verizon’s Fios figures for Q4 fell well short of expectations – given the consensus estimate called for 78,000 net additions – MoffettNathanson’s team said the business “continues to show strength, a product of their focus on stand-alone broadband, more aggressive pricing, and a lessening drag from video as the video base shrinks.”
RELATED: Verizon’s latest Fios passings mainly come from new builds
David Heger, an analyst with financial services company Edward Jones, agreed. He told Fierce that while Verizon may not be focusing on fiber to the extent that a competitor like AT&T is, “they have reinvigorated their focus on the fiber base…and they’re continuing to try to add addressable market on the fiber side.”
Vestberg said on the call that Verizon will continue to expand its Fios footprint, adding the operator expects its fixed wireless product to open up new opportunities in the broadband segment particularly now that it has deployed C-Band spectrum it can use for the service.
RELATED: Verizon CEO sees FWA as ‘the next generation of broadband’
“We believe that Verizon’s fixed wireless access offering will drive the next leg of broadband growth, increasing our market share and reach,” Vestberg stated. He added all its FWA customers use its service as their primary broadband connection and are “coming from basically cable and DSL areas.”
Financials
Consolidated revenue fell 1.8% year on year to $34.1 billion in Q4, with net income of $4.7 billion roughly flat.
Total Fios revenues across the consumer and business segments rose 5.7% to $3.2 billion in the quarter, with $2.9 billion of that figure coming from the consumer division. Full year 2021 Fios revenues tallied $12.7 billion, an increase of 4.6% year on year.