Verizon CTO: We won’t accelerate network investment due to new corporate tax rate

Verizon’s CTO said the company doesn’t plan to accelerate spending on its network due to new legislation that lowers corporate tax rates. “You probably don’t want to have big spikes in the capital allocation because then in the end it drives inefficiencies. We want to be consistent,” said Hans Vestberg, Verizon’s new CTO. “From an execution point of view you want to be consistent.” Added Vestberg: “It’s not helpful to go up and down in capital allocation because it ramps up and down resources—money wasted … But we are always debating. And we should debate in a leadership team the size of Verizon.” Vestberg’s comments are noteworthy in light of announcements that AT&T and Comcast made immediately following the passage of the new tax legislation. Both companies said they would offer their employees year-end bonuses due to the bill, and that they would also boost their network spending.