Telecom Review recently visited with Dawane Young, Executive Director of Marketing at Verizon to get a feel for some of their dynamic network growth opportunities for 2023. Below are some of our questions for Dwayne, along with his thoughts on their continued growth.
Dawane, Verizon Partner solutions is very active in the technology business on a worldwide basis. Can you give us a general overview of what will be new for 2023?
2023 is a very important year for Verizon. Our partners will continue to see the evolution and expansion of our 5G network with the continued proliferation of C-Band across the country as we continue to deploy our spectrum assets. In conjunction with network expansion, we will continue to provide frictionless support of Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions in the market. Furthermore, we expect to build on the momentum we’ve seen this year in the areas of private networks, Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) and Business-to-Business (B2B) applications that accelerate digital transformation initiatives for businesses. Finally, we expect to see an inflection point in wireline transformation and the continued evolution of Network as a Service (NaaS).
Verizon has been a leader in Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Can you please tell us more?
At the core of our FWA offering is our commitment to providing reliable and innovative services to our customers. FWA technology provides our customers with more options and flexibility in terms of how they access and use their internet. Currently, Verizon has more than 1 million Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) customers on our network. Our leadership has set a goal of tripling those numbers by the end of 2025, so this will be a focus for us within Verizon Partner Solutions. FWA continues to be an attractive offering for its speed to deploy the service to customers as well as the broadband speeds they receive. The typical FWA customer using C-Band gets download speeds of at least 100 Mbps. Verizon has the most advanced and reliable 4G network covering 99% of the US as an anchor network for FWA. In regards to 5G, Verizon leads the industry with the strongest spectrum portfolio across low, mid and high band spectrum. Verizon won C-Band licenses for between 140-200 MHz in all available markets, and began in the first 46 areas deploying up to 60 MHz. Over the next few years as additional spectrum is cleared by satellite companies, Verizon will be able to deploy 5G Ultra Wideband on all available bandwidth that it has licensed, up to 200 MHz. Every piece of equipment being deployed today is capable of the full 200MHz of bandwidth. Verizon will continue to focus on providing 5G FWA coverage and this is extremely exciting for our partners.
Verizon Partner Solutions has been very aggressive in their IOT offerings. Can you please tell us what you see for this market in 2023?
When we talk about IOT, we often use the acronym DNA (Device, Network and Applications). As we look at IOT in 2023, there has been significant progress made in the cost and power consumption of devices that make IOT far more viable. Additionally, with the proliferation of 5G networks the ability to support more endpoints with lower latency for both the device and the application increases the functionality of mission critical platforms. Within VPS, we have a history of collaborating on interoperability and standards. One of the areas where we’ve been diligent is in the area of eSIM technology which allows the IOT to proliferate faster on a global scale similar to what Verizon and our partners have done in the origination and termination of global traffic for years. Finally, in the application space with more MEC deployments bringing compute and storage closer to the customer premise, we will see an acceleration of digital transformation across enterprises. All of these factors will accelerate the growth of IOT in 2023.
What is the marketplace for the Edge Data Center business?
The data center market is estimated to be worth $205 billion by 2021, and Verizon is well positioned to capitalize on this growing market. One of the benefits of MEC is application runs on compute and storage resources that are closer to the end user or customer premise, reducing latency and improving overall performance. Verizon has partnered with some of the largest cloud service providers in the world: AWS, GCP and Azure as well as Oracle. The integration of Verizon’s 5G network with MEC deployments provide manufacturers, educational institutions, research and development facilities, retail, stadiums, venues and healthcare facilities the ability to transform their infrastructure and bring innovation to the forefront of their strategies.
How is your security business growing?
Our security business is growing, as we continue to expand our security portfolio to include a range of products and services that protect businesses from cyber threats. For our partners needing assistance providing security solutions to their end users, Verizon offers a range of proactive and reactive security solutions, including DDoS mitigation, Network Detection and Response, advanced malware protection, identity and access management, application security, and data security and privacy. Additionally, Verizon has invested in its own security operations centers, which provides 24/7 monitoring and response to security incidents, as well as advanced analytics and threat intelligence. As the number of cyber threats continues to rise, our security business is well-positioned to support the increased demand from our partners for these services.
One of your newer lines of business is the Blue Jeans product. Can you please tell us more?
Blue Jeans is a cloud-based video conferencing product that allows users to participate in meetings, events, and conferences with high-quality audio and video. It is designed to make it easy for people to join meetings from any device, including their laptop, tablet, or smartphone. The platform also offers features such as screen sharing, whiteboarding, recording, and more. With Blue Jeans, users can connect with anyone, regardless of their video conferencing system. Additionally, Blue Jeans allows users to host meetings and events with over 100 participants, and provides advanced security features to ensure that meetings remain private and secure.
Blue Jeans events can reach massive scale with secure, browser-based event production for up to 150,000 registered attendees that’s easy to manage and join from any device. In addition, the Studio tools allow any size business to produce TV-quality broadcasts with 1080p video, Dolby Voice audio, and powerful production tools that will wow audiences and elevate any event experience. We continue to be excited about the global opportunity our partners have to leverage the full portfolio of Blue Jeans solutions.
What are your predictions for 2023 for Verizon Partner Solutions?
The mission of Verizon Partner Solutions is to establish and improve on the strategic partnerships and alliances with partners that can leverage the various assets within Verizon to grow their business and build the networks of the future. In 2023, we are excited about building on our mission and growing in all of the areas we’ve discussed earlier.