Verizon met or exceeded all of its 5G-related commitments in 2020, and plans to continue deploying 5G infrastructure at a similar pace in 2021, according to CEO Hans Vestberg.

The operator’s 5G Ultra Wideband, or millimeter-wave (mmWave) 5G service, is currently available in parts of 64 U.S. cities, following a fivefold year-over-year increase in mmWave site deployment. And its fixed mobile 5G broadband is available in 10 cities. Verizon’s consumer-centric mobile edge compute service with Amazon Web Services (AWS) is also available in 10 U.S. markets, and it’s nationwide 5G service on low-band spectrum currently covers 230 million people in 2,700 cities.

“When it comes to our 5G and investing in our business, we have a big year in front of us in 2021,” Vestberg said during the company’s fourth quarter of 2020 earnings call. “Again, we’re going to almost double the amount of 5G Ultra Wideband sites. We’re going to have 14,000 new sites coming in during 2021. That will enable us to continue to increase with plus 20 cities when it comes to 5G Ultra Wideband.”

The operator also plans to double its mobile edge compute footprint with AWS to an additional 10 markets, and end the year with 5G fixed broadband reaching at least 20 more cities, Vestberg said.

Verizon hasn’t shared many plans for its enterprise-focused mobile edge compute service riding on Microsoft Azure, but Vestberg said it “will scale that network together with the demand” that is already coming in from businesses. 

“We have a great funnel of customers on the business side and we are not expecting that will be any significant revenues in 2021, but you are going to see a lot of customers signing up for mobile edge compute, both private and public, in 2021,” Vestberg said.

He also noted that the “vast majority” of Verizon’s 5G sites are connected to Verizon’s fiber network and it’s converting 4G LTE sites to operator-owned fiber in locations where the financials merit the investment. “Over time, we will also open up opportunities to resell to enterprise customers and wholesale,” Vestberg said, adding that it still has a couple years left on its fiber buildout project.

Verizon expects to spend $17.5 to $18.5 billion on capex in 2021, which is consistent with capex for the previous two years. The operator’s capex came in at $17.9 billion in 2019, and $18.2 billion in 2020.

“The technology team has all the means they [need] to execute on the strategy with the assets we have today,” Vestberg said. “We will only increase capex if we find something that has a really good return on investment.”

Outside the realm of that capex remains a big question about how much Verizon spent on the recently closed C-Band spectrum auction. Analysts at MoffettNathanson expect the operator’s total investment in that auction to come in as high as $40 billion.

“Whatever Verizon got in the auction, it is clear that they will have paid dearly for it,” the analysts wrote in a research note. “Yes, they clearly needed to address what was a glaring weakness in mid-band spectrum, but Verizon’s balance sheet, once a strength, will emerge post-auction as a weakness.”

Most industry analysts expect that Verizon spent more than any other operator in the C-Band auction. The winning bidders and results will be announced in a few weeks.

The operator is also forecasting revenue growth of 2% for 2021, excluding mobile device sales, but including total wireless service revenue growth of at least 3%. Wireless service revenue returned to growth for the first time since the global pandemic hit, jumping 2.2% year-over-year during Q4 to almost $16.7 billion. 

Verizon banked almost $4.72 billion in net income during Q4, a 9.6% year-over-year decline, and generated nearly $37.7 billion in revenue, which was down 0.2% from the year-ago period. The operator ended the year with $118.5 billion in debt, a 19% year-over-year increase, and lost about 2% of its workforce during the year, ending 2020 with 132,200 employees.