Verizon Confident Despite T-Mobile, Sprint Threat

Verizon Consumer Group chief Ronan Dunne (pictured) played down the impact of the pending merger of T-Mobile US and Sprint on the competitive landscape of the US market, predicting his company was well placed to weather any storm the deal may drum up.

At the annual Citi 2020 Global TMT West Conference in Las Vegas, Dunne said Verizon is not waiting for the result of a court case which will decide the merger of its rivals. Instead, Verizon is “constantly executing on a customer focused strategy” to remain competitive.

“The shape of competition may change but the nature of competition will fundamentally not change,” he said.

Dunne again played down the potential disruption of Dish Network’s entry into the mobile market. Referring to a live poll of attendees which cited the satellite TV company as the single biggest threat to Verizon’s business, Dunne said he was not convinced this would happen “in the next three-to-five years.”

5G devices

The consumer chief predicted a significant expansion in availability of 5G devices throughout 2020, but was unsure whether these would trigger a surge in shipments.

He noted ASPs for 5G devices are still to be determined, with more vendors set to launch products at different price points over the course of the year.

“We will see mmWave devices below $600 by the end of the year and, therefore, coming into the mass market. There are certain manufacturers yet to produce a 5G device. When that happens, that will be the catalyst to the 5G adoption cycle, but whether that’s a super cycle or not, I’m not sure yet.”

Dunne told CNET Verizon planned to add 20 5G devices to its portfolio this year, which the news outlet stated was four-times more than it released in 2019.―Mobile World Live