Verizon Fios posts its best full year net adds since 2014

Verizon’s Fios internet net additions may have slowed year on year in Q4, but CEO Hans Vestberg said its total for the full-year 2021 was the highest in more than five years. The operator posted 106,000 total broadband net additions in the quarter, up from 76,000 in Q4 2020. That figure included 78,000 fixed wireless access (FWA) and 55,000 Fios Internet adds as well as the loss of 27,000 DSL customers. While the quarterly Fios figure was down significantly from 95,000 net additions in Q4 2020, full-year Fios Internet gains in 2021 totaled 360,000. Vestberg pointed to this tally as the company’s best annual result since 2014. Though analysts noted Verizon’s Fios figures for Q4 fell well short of expectations – given the consensus estimate called for 78,000 net additions – MoffettNathanson said the business “continues to show strength, a product of their focus on stand-alone broadband, more aggressive pricing, and a lessening drag from video as the video base shrinks.” Verizon will continue to expand its Fios footprint, adding the operator expects its fixed wireless product to open up new opportunities in the broadband segment particularly now that it has deployed C-Band spectrum it can use for the service.