Vertical Bridge has agreed to construct these towers with Verizon as the anchor tenant
U.S. carrier Verizon signed a deal with Vertical Bridge to build cell towers across the country to expand its 4G and 5G services. In a release, Verizon said that Vertical Bridge has agreed to construct these towers with Verizon as the anchor tenant. The towers will be held in an LLC formed by Vertical Bridge in which Verizon has a profits interest.
Verizon highlighted that the new towers will help to fulfill the need for new locations where towers do not exist today to continue to enhance the wireless experience of its customers.
“Our new agreement with Vertical Bridge is an excellent alternative to the traditional tower leasing model. This cost-effective, sustainable and efficient model will allow us to accelerate our build program and provide additional services to customers,” said Lynn Cox, chief engineering officer for Verizon.
“This new model, designed to deliver value for both parties, is a demonstration of strong collaboration and mutual benefit between a carrier and a tower company to accelerate infrastructure development in the U.S.,” said Ron Bizick, president and CEO at Vertical Bridge. “We are committed to rapidly building the infrastructure needed to drive the wireless telecommunications industry forward,” Bizick added.
Earlier this year, Verizon said its 5G Ultra Wideband service was available to more than 200 million people across the U.S.
The carrier said it will continue to expand its 5G Ultra Wideband service into more rural and suburban areas during 2023. Verizon also aims to continue improving the performance of its 5G offering by deploying additional spectrum as it comes available,
In its latest quarterly results, Verizon said its capital expenditures in Q1 were $6 billion, and company executives said that included “most” of the remaining $1.75 billion that it plans to spend on C-Band deployment. In the majority of markets, Verizon has deployed 60 megahertz of those midband airwaves, and once it receives access to the second tranche of C-Band spectrum at the end of this year, the carrier’s CEO Hans Vestberg said that it will be able to deploy an average of 160 megahertz and in some places, as much as 200 megahertz. “Where we offer C-band, we see significant benefits in fixed wireless access consumer phone gross adds and retention, as well as premium take rates,” he told investors, adding, “We also see 4G customers benefiting as we offload traffic in some markets to our 5G Ultra Wideband network. The performance improvements will continue as 5G penetration expands market-by-market.”
