Kyle Malady, head of networks at Verizon, told investment analysts that the global semiconductor shortages should not affect the US operators deployment of a 5G network in midband spectrum.
This deployment will be critical to improve coverage in a 5G network that has largely relied on millimeter wave spectrum, and so has limited availability. But while T-Mobile USA has warned that chip supply chain constraints, largely caused by the pandemic, could limit the launch of its 5G fixed wireless service, Malady said he had seen “no issues thus far around global equipment shortages”.
He told investor analyst at Cowen that he was confident that Verizon’s “supply chain remains strong and able to handle equipment demand needs for deployment”. The operator aims to upgrade about 8,000 cell sites in the coming year to support its new C-band spectrum, with the aim of offering gigabit 5G speeds across large areas of many major cities by 2022. The faster mmWave service, where available, will be marketed as a premium offering while all Verizon’s unlimited data plans will provide ‘5G’ on 600 MHz spectrum, though speeds are similar to those of 4G.
In a research note, the Cowen analysts said Verizon had told them it had “not de-emphasized mmWave in its coverage footprint” and was sticking to its goal of covering up to 30m households with mmWave connections in 5-8 years.