“We pride ourselves with the best network,” says Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “We have had that all the time in 4G and we’re going to have it on 5G. We’ve invested very prudently with our network, but network is our strategy and it has been that since the inception of the company. At Verizon, we’re proud of it. I just want every American to have a 5G phone in their hands and see the huge impact it will have in a transformative way that 5G will make in this country.”

Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, discusses his desire for every American to soon experience the huge transformative impact that 5G will have in an interview on CNBC at The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference:

I Want Every American To See The Transformative Impact Of 5G

We have been on to 5G for seven years now. We were first in the world to launch 5G Home broadband. We were first in the world with 5G mobility. We now have four cities up and we’re going to have 30 cities this year. We have three 5G phones already out. So we, of course, are ahead of the game but we respect all the competition. We pride ourselves with the best network. We have had that all the time in 4G and we’re going to have it on 5G. 

We’ve invested very prudently with our network, but network is our strategy and it has been that since the inception of the company. At Verizon, we’re proud of it. That’s important to us. I just want every American to have a 5G phone in their hands and see the huge impact it will have in a transformative way that 5G will make in this country.

We’re In the Middle Of a Very Big Transformation

It’s always been a competitive market. I mean the wireless market in the US is extremely competitive. It’s nothing new to us and we are prepared. We’re in the middle of a very big transformation of the company. We have changed the network, we have a new go-to-market, and we have a voluntary offering where almost 10,400 people are leaving us. So we are prepared. Whatever comes up Verizon will respond quickly and we will manage our shareholders or customers or employees and society in general. That’s our work.

It’s a very exciting market to be in with mobility and broadband and 5G and all of that. Of course, there is a lot of hype and discussion about it and the US is in the lead with it. It’s an exciting time to be here and work. We will compete. I think that we already have the best 4G network and we’re ready with being first in word with 5G. We will just hammer on and execute. I have a great team that is doing that every day. Our main focus is really to execute right now and then a lot of things will happen around us.

Regulation Of Tech Is Difficult

First of all, we understand the concerns (around big tech) and all of that. Ultimately, we need to remember that mobility, broadband, and cloud, that combination is a 21st-century infrastructure. If you can scale that you can actually solve problems in the rest of the world that you have never thought about. If we start to chop that up by regulation we cannot give the same opportunities for everyone in this world. So that’s very important. 

Secondly, I think the technology is moving so fast that if you do regulation, it’s just moving so fast that it’s hard. I think it’s up to responsible leaders and ultimately the customer will be after you if you do stupid things. We’re building our brand on trust and innovation. We know that we need to fight every day to get that trust and one thing you do wrong you lose the trust. That has to regulate and that’s more important in the end.

I think that regulation is difficult in the tech sector and customers will ultimately judge them. I’m worried that if you’re going to have different regulations all around the world for platforms, for example, which means that the officials that were getting from them today, that people can get digital health care and digital educational platforms, we’re going to lose that. With the sustainable goals that we have in the world, we want everybody to have the same chance. I think that would be bad.