Verizon exceeded profit expectations for the fourth quarter. Verizon Business CEO Tami Erwin joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss.
Video transcription
– The shares of our parent company, Verizon Communications, fell in the session, about 8/10 of a percent, continuing the decline we saw yesterday on the back of the company’s earnings report. The growth of wireless subscribers is falling below analysts’ expectations, certainly a disappointment for investors. But that was somewhat overshadowed by a major disruption we saw early in the morning on the East Coast, which caused major disruptions with so many working from home.
We will bring Tami Erwin. She is the CEO of Verizon Business. Tami, it’s great to talk to you today. I wonder if we can start with these interruptions. Many of us experienced this yesterday, because much of our lives are now online. Certainly not – Verizon was not the only company affected. We also saw Google, Zoom, YouTube, Slack and Amazon Web Services. What else do we learn? Can you give us more information about what happened specifically?
TAMI ERWIN: Yes. I think we saw two very unique things yesterday in the Northeast. We saw a broad internet problem that degraded services for about an hour in the Northeast. The focus was on restoration. The teams are working collectively across the board to discover the root cause of this. In parallel, we also had a cable, a wire cut by a tree that fell on a cable, then two things that ran in parallel. Our focus is always on restoration, as we understand the importance of how much people depend on this internet connection. And then we will work on the root cause, to make sure we avoid this in the future.
ZACK GUZMAN: Tami, can I also get an update? What we got from the earnings report here was kind of a continuous boost to Verizon’s efforts in the 5G space. I know that in terms of business here, you’ve been looking– you’ve been looking at companies out there and what they plan to do to leverage the 5G launch. What did you hear from people who are looking forward to it, maybe, uh, I think to boost their recovery that we saw playing here in 2021? What’s catching your eye?
TAMI ERWIN: Yes, Zack, thank you. Is it a really exciting time for companies, as they watch how they react, respond, recover and reimagine their business in a period of 2021, leaving COVID, facing some of the economic challenges that companies see? 5G will play a very important role in terms of how they reimagine and provide solutions, operational efficiency and new revenue.
You know, we just completed a study that we did that was really an important study. Morning Consult worked with us. We talked to 700 key decision makers in companies and 79% said 5G is part of their recovery plan. 50% of users said they hope to put 5G devices in the hands of their users, because they understand the power of this expansion. And they see this as an important differentiator in terms of their recovery plans. I think Verizon is very well positioned. We lead the world in our launch of 5G mobility, 5G fixed wireless access and, of course, for business customers, mobile 5G mobile computing, reaching 10 AWS locations last year and then private mobile mobile computing with Microsoft and Azure. Really powerful solutions that put control in the hands of companies as they rebuild and recover from COVID with technology at the heart of what they do.
– Tami, let ‘s talk about what we saw in your wireless business, because I think that’ s what caused it – the – slide that we saw in action yesterday. You have added 3,000 subscribers. But that was well below what Wall Street expected. Today we are looking at AT&T. Their numbers, significantly higher than expectations. How much of your growth has occurred at Verizon’s expense? And how much are these promotions from AT&T, as well as from T-Mobile, affecting your business there?
TAMI ERWIN: Yes. When I see the momentum in our B2B practice and business, I am very excited about the growth we have experienced and continue to see. We lead in each of the segments we serve. You may remember a year and a half ago, when we set out – redefining Verizon on a Verizon 2.0 model to serve small business customers, global business customers and public sector customers. We did this with the expectation of being able to serve you with end-to-end solutions. And this ability to do that has enabled us to deliver strong B2B growth in 2020. And we are very well positioned in 2021.
You know, it’s– COVID impacted business very differently. In small businesses, we know that they have seen the most direct impact as a result of COVID. And therefore, the way we appear not only with basic connectivity, but also with security and advanced communication, video and collaboration capabilities has been very important. How we supported them in their recovery was important. And so, when you look at the public sector, this is a segment that we work with closely, and we have seen good growth, and we hope that continued growth is how we reinvent education, something that we are all trying to learn to live with . We play a central role there.
And then, in the global company, there are many companies that are reimagining how they put the power of 5G in the hands of – their employees, and really transform the work environment, as we reimagine the company of the future. And we are well positioned to continue to provide strong growth in our overall wireless portfolio, while continuing to participate as an industry leader in the segments we serve today.
ZACK GUZMAN: Well, some pretty high infrastructure goals planned in advance for the next administration here. It is interesting to see how 5G can play a role in this, not only for Verizon, but also for all other networks. But Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business, thank you for coming here to chat with us today.
TAMI ERWIN: Thank you very much. Be alright.