Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of the US-based telecom company Verizon, discusses the company’s decision to not enter the Indian consumer market, focusing instead on its core US consumer base and serving businesses in 150 countries through partnerships with local telcos.
In an interview with businessline, he shares insights into the telecommunications industry, including Verizon’s strategic priorities. He emphasises the longevity of 5G networks, highlighting the ongoing innovations and potential within 5G technology that will extend its relevance for years to come. He also spoke about the opportunity triggered by the spurt in Generative AI, particularly in light of Verizon’s investments in mobile edge computing, which positions them to support AI applications at the network edge. Edited excerpts:
How do you see the current state of the telecommunications industry? What are the biggest challenges for the industry and Verizon?
The telecom industry has done a remarkable job, connecting over five billion people with mobile phones. Mobility is essential for services like healthcare, education and work. The challenge now is growth. Initially, there was rapid growth as we acquired subscribers, but then it stabilised. Going forward, we need to find ways to grow while providing essential services. Verizon is a large company, with annual revenue of $135 billion. We need to keep growing with our customers and ensure our offerings resonate with them. Society is changing rapidly, especially post-Covid, and customer needs are evolving. It’s crucial to stay close to the market. Technology is so central now that people have little tolerance for network or phone issues. Mobility, broadband and cloud services are the 21st century’s infrastructure. We need to use digital tools to give everyone a chance to compete and grow. As the world rolls out 5G, people are already talking about 6G.
Where does Verizon stand in terms of 6G?
It’s early for 6G, as standardisation isn’t fully there yet. 5G still has a lot of potential. We’ll likely see a longer gap between generations this time, not because 6G isn’t important, but because 5G has more to offer with innovations like network slicing and private networks. Generally, every ‘G’ has a window of 10 years.
Some feel that spectrum charges are excluding some companies from the field. How does Verizon see this, having spent $53 billion on spectrum?
Different countries have different spectrum regimes. The US has historically auctioned spectrum, meaning companies own it. This provides certainty for deployment but makes the spectrum more expensive. The stakes are high, and the industry is capital-intensive, but it’s an essential service requiring investment. We see different approaches in different countries, with the US favouring ownership through acquisition.
How do you see the rise of cloud computing and edge computing impacting telecom?
Our radio network is already virtualised, so we see advantages in using virtualisation and cloud-based solutions. With our fibre network and mobile edge computing, we can partner and deliver services based on computing and storage at the network edge. We see collaboration and growth opportunities for Verizon in this area.
Is India a development and R&D focus for Verizon, or do you also see it as a market?
We’ve grown from zero to 7,000 employees in India, who now deliver on our highest priorities across various areas. We’re not planning to enter the consumer market in India. We focus on consumers in the US and serve businesses in about 150 countries, often working with local telcos. India is a tremendous and transformative market, but we have no plans to enter it.
Cybersecurity is a major issue. How does Verizon protect its interests?
You can’t start protecting your network reactively. Verizon has built network resilience and protections into its foundation. We serve the most important organisations in the US, so security is a long-term investment for us. We have support from our cybersecurity team in India and continue to develop our network security.
Do you work with external partners for cybersecurity?
We have our own teams and also work with the best security software companies. Ultimately, we run our cybersecurity internally. We also sell cybersecurity solutions and publish an annual data breach report. We’re very advanced in data security.
Can you elaborate on the evolution of cloud computing and edge, and its impact on the telecom industry?
We started building mobile edge computing in 2018, anticipating the throughput speed and latency of 5G. With the rise of AI, we see an even bigger opportunity. Initially, AI involves training large language models in data centres, but as AI products mature, we believe they’ll move to the network edge due to transport costs, security and the availability of computing and storage. We’ve been discussing how generative AI is a great opportunity for Verizon, given our network infrastructure.
Ultimately, generative AI products will be more local due to transport costs, security, and the need for real-time processing. We see an opportunity to support this shift with our mobile edge.