Verizon held a briefing for sell-side financial analysts, and issued a broader business update, last week. The meetings were short on detail, and did not contain any bold new headlines, but that shouldn’t obscure the progress that the US operator is making. After the missteps of its adventures in media acquisitions, and facing strengthened competition at home amid global economic slowdown, Verizon needs a new story. Its share price fell sharply last year, although its 2023 financial results showed signs of good recovery towards the end of that year. Most of this was based on traditional Verizon strengths, notably a 31% increase in wireless subscribers that was attributed to the quality of its 5G network. But that boost only generated…