Verizon 5G Plans Raising Analyst Questions

with a serious deployment," New Street's Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors the night of the gathering, referring to capital and operating expenditures, "the market should be skeptical." The start (see 1711290045) of the 5G services in up to five markets next year and its forecast of a potential 30 million-household market left some attendees scratching their heads. "They left us with more questions than answers," Chaplin said. "Discussion on technology was thin. They seem to be making bold assumptions ... that seem very optimistic." To MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett, "the way all this plays out is so murky as to be unforecastable." Many questions along the lines of whether the carrier targets more areas that are outside its wireline footprint and beyond its initial market of Sacramento, California, "are likely unanswerable," he wrote Thursday. The "meeting increased our conviction there is indeed a network plan -- which we believe has many more chapters," said Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche. Technical rollout in 5G trial markets appeared to exceed the telco's expectations, with 800 Mbps average when a site was 2,000 feet away, the analyst wrote in a note titled, "Yes, There Is A Plan! And It Is A Multi-Use Case (In Revenue & Costs)." Raymond James' Frank Louthan sees a potential "$5+ billion new high-margin revenue stream." Much fiber will be needed, analysts said. "Verizon will still need a lot more, which will be a combination of building themselves and leasing," Louthan wrote.