Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg on celebrating the company's 25th anniversary

Company Overview & Strategy - Verizon was created 25 years ago through the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, now a major wireless and broadband provider in the US [1] - The name "Verizon" combines "veritas" (truth) and "horizon" (looking forward), chosen because all common words were already taken [3] - Verizon is focused on fiberizing everything from data centers to the network edge, harmonizing it, and providing redundancy, then deciding on the access technology (4G, 5G, fiber, fixed wireless) at the edge based on customer needs [13] Competition & Market Dynamics - Wireless companies are rolling out 5G fixed wireless, competing with broadband, leading to competition and promotional pricing [5] - Satellite business is seen as mostly complementary, serving very rural areas and specific use cases like vessels, but not suitable for dense cities [9][10] - Verizon faces different competitors in different segments, including fiber, fixed wireless access, wireless for government, and consumer postpaid/prepaid [19] Investment & Infrastructure - Since the current CEO took over, Verizon has invested over $200 billion in the United States [6] - Verizon is currently building roughly 650,000 new fiber passings a year, with plans to increase this number after the pending acquisition of Frontier [15] - Verizon has been investing 18 to 185 billion dollars in the network every year [15] Customer Acquisition & Retention - Verizon lost 289,000 postpaid phone customers in the first quarter, matching the worst quarter on record, attributed to a slower quarter and price increases [16] - The prepaid business performed exceptionally well in the first quarter, balancing the postpaid losses [17][18] - Verizon focuses on acquiring profitable customers across all segments, aiming to maintain its number one position in all wireless segments [17][18] Global Business - Regulation prevents the consumer and wireless business from being truly global due to a lack of synergies between companies across the globe [22] - For business customers, large enterprises want one provider globally for private IP networks, which Verizon can provide through assets and partners [23]