The rapid expansion of Verizon's next-generation 5G network powered by C-band spectrum is giving the company key advantages in wireless and Broadband competition. In the company's latest earnings call, Verizon’s CEO highlighted how the C-band rollout is improving network quality and supporting new growth initiatives.

Verizon reported its fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2023 financial results on January 23. Among the financial highlights, the company reported that full-year 2023 wireless service revenue was $76.7 billion, up 3.2% year over year from 2022. Verizon is also continuing to grow its base of Broadband networking customers, largely with the use of Fixed-Wireless Access technology in the form of the 5G C-band.

“Our network is the foundation of how we offer the best value and premium experience to our customers and we're now seeing our investment in C-band paying off in terms of customer experience and loyalty,” Hans Vestberg, Verizon chairperson and CEO said during his company's earnings call.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, over 80% of Verizon’s new FWA consumers came from C-band coverage areas.

Verizon expects FWA to be a long-term source of recurring revenue supported by expanding C-band deployments. After launching in early 2022, Verizon has already reached over 3 million fixed-wireless customers.

Verizon has been growing its C-band spectrum aggressively over the last year in particular. The C-band spectrum employed by mobile operators is situated within the 3.70 GHz–3.98 GHz range. Originally, this spectrum was not fully utilized by fixed-satellite operators and was opened up by the Federal Communications Commission in a spectrum auction that commenced in late 2020 and concluded in early 2021.

Verizon spent more than $45 billion to acquire C-band spectrum licenses and has been racing to get its money's worth from the investment. Vestberg emphasized repeatedly during the earnings call that the C-band investment is working out in Verizon's favor. He cited metrics showing lower churn and increased customer step-ups to premium services in C-band markets compared to non-C-band markets.The company is seeing increased customer adoption of premium unlimited plans and services where C-band is available. Vestberg said last quarter’s take-up rate for premium plans was more than 10 points higher in C-band markets.

Verizon is also seeing high demand for its FWA service, reaching over 3 million customers in under three years. Vestberg said fixed wireless will be “a long-term source of recurring revenue” enabled by the C-band deployment.

With its initial C-band spectrum deployment complete, Verizon is expanding coverage to suburban and rural areas in 2024.

“Our results in C-band markets speak for themselves and support our investment decisions, and we're going to lean in further as we expand into suburban and rural markets,” Vestberg said.