Dan Schulman

Schulman commits to blocking agent access to Verizon's platforms unless it is certain a genuine customer is behind it.

We'll be sure that we won't allow agents to access our platforms unless we're 100% certain that it's truly a customer and not a rogue agent,

Schulman says agents will drive an explosion in data traffic, making Verizon's network scarce and valuable, and that it will be priced accordingly with new plans.

an explosion in data traffic," making the Verizon network "a scarce and valuable asset," he told analysts. "And we will price it as such. You'll see different pricing plans.

Schulman downplayed the threat of SpaceX entering the core mobile business, saying there are no shortcuts to building a terrestrial network given spectrum, backhaul, customer service and back-office needs.

"There's no magic wand. There's no secret sauce. There's no shortcut," Schulman said when asked to address the potential impacts of SpaceX's moving into the core mobile business.

Schulman said Verizon's 1,700MHz of mmWave spectrum has become a competitive advantage and called the new FWA capability a technological breakthrough with significant positive implications.

Our 1,700MHz of millimeter wave spectrum has suddenly become a differentiated and competitive advantage" that complements Verizon's existing C-band spectrum, Schulman said on Monday's earnings call. "This is a technological breakthrough for us with significant positive implications.

Schulman said Verizon should not sell FWA to customers needing gigabit speeds it can't deliver, and that it needs a much wider 1-Gig footprint.

If a customer needs a gig of speed and we can only offer them 300-Meg, we shouldn't sell the service. It's just going to be something that disappoints a customer," Schulman said. "And then the second implication was like we need a much wider footprint in which we can provide 1-Gig or more of speed.

Schulman says Verizon assumes SpaceX will flawlessly deliver on everything it announces, and plans accordingly.

I also operate under the assumption that everything SpaceX says they will do, they will do, and that they will execute flawlessly. That's my operating assumption on it. I think to assume anything else makes no sense from my perspective.

Schulman argues that a SpaceX terrestrial mobile network would take 4-6 years and $300-500 billion, with no structural cost advantage.

If they build one, they're going to look at 65,000-80,000 macro sites. They're going to need backhaul, some combination of fiber, and maybe some satellite. They're going to need RAN. They're going to need a tremendous amount of spectrum. Assuming that's the case, and assuming they try to go do that, it's going to take a minimum of four to six years to fully build that out. It's going to cost hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars, I assume somewhere between $300 billion and $500 billion over the next seven or eight years.

Schulman says Verizon's millimeter wave holdings now offer a competitive edge and free up C-band capacity, enabling 1 gig FWA in metros.

Our 1,700 MHz of millimeter wave spectrum has suddenly become a differentiated and competitive advantage. It also has a dual benefit in that it will create substantial incremental efficiencies and capacity in our existing C-band spectrum. This is a technological breakthrough for us with significant positive implications.

Schulman says agent growth and distributed inference demand make Verizon's scarce edge computing and fiber assets highly valuable, with about $4 billion signed.

Obviously, with the explosion of agents right now, the need for distributed inference computing, a move from GPUs to CPUs, the assets we have for that edge computing are exactly in the right place. We are seeing a ton of demand for what are scarce assets.

Schulman predicts 100 billion AI agents will drive a data traffic explosion that makes Verizon's network a scarce asset to be priced accordingly.

I think as I look out over the next couple of years, there'll be something like 8.5 billion people in the world, but I think there could be at least 100 billion agents. There is going to be an explosion in data traffic, and our network will become a scarce and crucial asset, and we will price it as such.

Schulman believes AGI is one to three years away, followed by quantum and robotics, which will reshape every business.

Look, clearly, we are entering into the age of AI, of agents. I think AGI, depends on who you talk to, is one to three years away. It's clearly upon us. Quantum hitting shortly thereafter, robotics after that.

Schulman says Verizon refuses to buy growth with free lines and subsidies, prioritizing revenue-positive net adds.

I don't consider free lines to even be net adds. I think they're churn waiting to happen. This quarter, if we operated the same way that we did a year ago, we could do multiple hundreds of thousands more net adds if you give away free lines and free phones.

Schulman signals Verizon may consider price increases now that it has added customer value.

In terms of pricing, I've always said, I'm not against taking up pricing as long as we add value to that. In the past, we took up pricing without adding any value to customers, and eventually that comes back to haunt you. We've added a tremendous amount of value in the last year, and there's potentially room for us to adjust that price-to-value equation by increasing pricing as well.

Schulman rules out offering an MVNO deal to satellite providers such as Starlink, rejecting the prisoner's dilemma argument.

I will say, and I will repeat it again, that there are no back doors to any of our MVNO agreements, and I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever to extending an MVNO deal to any satellite provider. I do not buy into the idea of this prisoner's dilemma.

Schulman commits to not selling FWA where speeds fall short of customer expectations, even at the cost of net add metrics.

Where we can't deliver the speed a particular segment of customers expects from Verizon, we won't sell it. We began to implement that philosophy earlier this quarter, and as I told the team, we should never drive for a net add metric that runs counter to our customer-first philosophy.

Schulman notes that even if SpaceX wins upper C-band spectrum it could not deploy for four to five years, and Verizon's own bidding is undecided.

Even if SpaceX, and I'm assuming they bid in it, I'm not sure one way or another what we will do given our new spectrum position. But say they get some spectrum, they cannot deploy that for four or five years. It is spectrum that is, I think, reasonable spectrum, but it takes quite some time to clear.

Schulman said Verizon's mmWave-based 1-Gig FWA is a technological breakthrough that complements its fiber builds in metro areas.

Using our millimeter wave spectrum, we have developed an innovative solution that will enable us to deliver a 1-Gig FWA product in metro areas across the country, complementing our fiber builds … This is a technological breakthrough for us with significant positive implications

Schulman said using mmWave for FWA offloads C-band capacity, making the whole network more efficient and improving spectrum positioning.

It makes our entire network more efficient. It offloads C band capacity, it gives our network more capacity and runway, and it significantly alters our spectrum positioning.

Schulman said shifting the broadband mix toward fiber was deliberate, and Verizon should not sell FWA to customers whose speed needs it can't meet.

I want to ensure we sell consumers the right service to meet their needs versus selling what we have available in our network. If a customer needs a gig of speed and we can only offer them 300 meg, we shouldn't sell the service.

Schulman said SpaceX's mobile network doesn't yet exist, but Verizon will compete ferociously once it enters the market.

It's very hard to throw a punch against something that doesn't exist. But once they come into the market, we will be ferociously competitive

Schulman firmly ruled out extending any MVNO deal to satellite providers.

There are no back doors to any of our MVNO agreements, and I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever to extending an MVNO deal to any satellite provider