Verizon’s latest Fios passings mainly come from new builds

Verizon CEO of Consumer Group Ronan Dunne says the company’s new Fios open-for-sale availabilities are mainly coming from new builds, including, for example, in the mid-Atlantic region, according to a new report from the analysts at MoffettNathanson.

During the company’s recent third quarter 2021 earnings report, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said Verizon’s total broadband net adds, defined as Fios, DSL and fixed wireless access (FWA) were 129,000. Of that, Fios Internet net adds were 104,000. He said Verizon is increasing its Fios deployments, adding over 400,000 open-for-sale locations this year.

According to the MoffettNathanson report, Dunne expects Verizon will continue to deploy Fios at a 400,000 to 600,000 open-for-sale run-rate in the years to come.

New homes in U.S.

It’s interesting that Dunne revealed new builds as a driver for Fios passings. There have been mixed news reports about the status of new builds in the U.S.

On one hand, there are reports of a slowdown in construction. In mid-September CNBC reported that just 7 million new single-family homes were built from January 2021 to June 2021, running at the slowest pace since 1995. The slowness is attributed to not only a labor shortage but also supply-chain disruptions and shortages of building materials.

But on the other hand, the demand for new homes is much greater than the supply. Realtor.com says the U.S. is short about 5 million homes. And in August, U.S. News & World Report cited Census Bureau numbers that sales of new homes rose 1.5% in the month.

On the Q3 earnings call, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said, “On the Fios expansion, we see great opportunity. We have been investing in that for a number of years; maybe haven’t spoken about it quite as much. But it continues to be a very good growth driver for the business.”

The company reported that Fios revenue of $3.2 billion in the quarter was up 4.7% year over year, driven by continued growth in customers as well as Verizon’s effort to increase the value of each customer by encouraging them to step up in speed tiers.