SpaceX could be on the cusp of buying 80,000 cell towers. This is in addition to to spectrum they are beginning to accumulate. If Dan does not have a realistic strategic response to this threat on next week's earnings call and responds with the predictable
"We welcome the competition" than Verizon has waived the white flag. I began my career with NYNEX and this will be the most important earnings call of my tenure. A new Value Prop won't right this threat. Dan had better rise to the occasion!
25 replies (most recent on top)
ROi . Show me the money on 3Q calls
@cw Chris flood is a mo--n. Execs had similar positions with:
1) iPhone, won’t be successful because it doesn’t have a keyboard
2) TMO cannot sustain their financials and catch us.
3) we will never relinquish network superiority.
4) we will never have an unlimited plan.
5) we care about employees.
Chris flood stated in a call that Elon doesn’t know how hard it is to run a telco business
@a1 Ever hear of fiber to the premise or Fios? That was pretty transformative at the time when copper was king and every CLEC wanted a piece of the action.
@ch Taterhead”s “plan” is to send “85% to 93%” of voice call over WiFi and use the existing S band. He hasn’t released his “plan” because he doesn’t have one. Stop polishing his knob.
It’s funny people making fun of Elon I guess because of politics but the man has a plan and guess what - he is not afraid to fail…people should learn how to play poker - the person with the the most chips wins :) VZ needs to get rid of all these peolle on this board..they are the problem not Dan or whoever is the CEO.
@ae Pushing the industry forward by offering 35mb wireless service while other wireless carriers are offering 1 gig or more?
@an Early estimates are $80 billion to build out the terrestrial network. I think that’s low. It’s probably 2x or 3x more.
@a9 Lowell = NostraDUMBas
@a7 those executives are gone with golden parachutes. you and me, not so much.
@as sound and fury, signifying nothing
@am did somebody say penetration pricing?
@ar please help explain comment -- attorneys lining up now?
@am Tesla has done wonders for pricing in the auto industry. Oh wait. It hasn’t. They have yet to deliver a product at the price point that they promised. I wound not expect competitive pricing for their wireless service if it ever launches. 15k satellites and 80k towers before a single paying customer is using the network? Man I can see the attorneys lining up now.
@ae So Taterhead is leasing space on 80k towers. What’s the plan to connect those 80k towers? Let me guess he will be paying billions to the ILECs to ride on their fiber backbone. So while the big 3 lose subscribers, they make billions from leasing their fiber. All while TaterheadX loses money per subscriber. Bring it!
Starlink: the question is affordability, thus how much would a customer have to pay on a recurring monthly basis or an annual basis for equivalent cellular service?
Affordable?? Or is Musk going to permeate a low monthly cost plans to eliminate the competition?? Predatory Pricing and Penetration Pricing??
Verizon needs the wherewithal to compete in the arena to the advent of new technology.
They’re NOT going to buy 80,000 towers—they’re going to lease space on them. And yes, that’s going to put pressure on all three major carriers. But the real turning point will come when investors start seeing their returns shrink because of the competition. That’s when things will finally change.
Love him or hate him, Musk has consistently shown that he can deliver on what he says he’s going to do. Is everything 100% perfect? No. But he gets things done, pushes forward, and keeps introducing new ideas and solutions. Name another carrier doing the same thing at that scale. The others seem content to protect the status quo rather than challenge it.
That’s the difference: one is pushing the industry forward, while the others are waiting to see how much of their business they’re going to lose.
That's what happens when clowns with MBA degrees run the business.
Dan and strategy, in the same phrase ? You kidding, right ?
Thank you Lowell... We don't want data centers or cell towers... It's like he was the exact opposite of Nostradamus.
It's even simpler. At the end of the day, CEO is accountable and responsible. As far as we know nobody twisted his arm to stay on the BOD for many years and then accept the CEO position.
Subsequently he made his best buddy Alfonso who spent 15 years at McKinsey the Chief Transformation Officer, EVP and Verizon Consumer Group CEO -- roles built specifically around him by Dan.
Also don't forget the massive nationwide cellular network outage in January.
If this not an executive and strategic fiasco, then I don't know what is. Those two need to go.
@a6 - it is not McKinsey or BCG 's fault
It is whoever executes who agreed with them and signed the deal, those executive should be hold accountable !
Sure looks smart to have sold all our towers to 3rd parties and then leased them back so they can also put competitors on them. Thanks McKinsey or BCG or whatever brilliant consulting company told us to unlock a little bit of short term shareholder value in return for long term destruction.
Coming from Bell Atlantic side of RBOCs i can not recall a single transformative move that kead from strategy in Industry.
Biggest moves were always aquistions, pay C Level buyouts and rinse bc and repeat.