Verizon’s CEO Lowell McAdam has stated that the company is no longer interested in acquiring a cable company. In an interview with CNBC, McAdam confirmed that Verizon had looked into a possible acquisition of a cable company around a year ago, but it ultimately decided that the move was not in its best interests. Instead, the company appears to be focusing on its future 5G network and retaining its current customers.
The CEO of the company made mention of T-Mobile’s recent free Netflix offer, as well as AT&T’s free HBO add-on for Unlimited Plus customers. McAdam believes that offering a product for free in order to sell their own service is not necessary, but did hint at the fact that a similar deal with Showtime could be possible if the company eventually deems it necessary, therefore allowing them to compete without owning the content. Nonetheless, McAdam believes it should be the network’s coverage and reliability that attracts customers, something he believes is the case at the moment, as “customers will buy based on their experience.” Despite this, the CEO did state that he hopes Oath, the new company formed by the merger of Verizon’s Yahoo and AOL services, would help attract new customers to its wireless network, not to mention the company’s 5G offering once it launches, thanks to its varied content offerings. In terms of its Go90 service, the company admitted that the market is pretty crowded, but did mention that it could partner up in the future with another content provider in order to guarantee their presence. Currently, though, it appears Verizon is solely focused on deploying fiber and 5G. After all, by deploying 5G early on, Verizon will have a significant lead over its competitors.
Overall, it appears Verizon is avoiding any distractions and is focused on offering reliable products, albeit at a slightly higher price than some competitors. Considering the speed at which T-Mobile is growing, though, as well as the many bundles it offers in order to entice subscribers, Verizon may need to rethink its strategy of betting solely on reliability and customer experience. After all, T-Mobile has been setting the standard for wireless carriers in the US recently and, in many cases, Verizon has been forced to adapt months later.