IP Democracy: Verizon's Seidenberg: Everything's Hunky-Dory

A relaxed and seemingly confident Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon, gave an upbeat talk about his company today at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia investor event. Whether it's the state of the economy, the impact of the iPhone on Verizon Wireless, the potential slow-down in broadband growth or Verizon's decision to challenge the FCC's 700 MHz auction rules, it's all good.

On Whether Verizon Sees Signs of an Economic Downturn: "We've seen nothing that would indicate we're heading toward some down period," Seidenberg said. "We don't see any shift in IT spending and nor do we see any signal that it will be any different in 2008."

On Whether the iPhone, Offered by AT&T Exclusively, Has Hurt Verizon Wireless: "We think we're taking our share of the market and doing very well with it," Seidenberg said. Although Apple's recent announcement of a price cut for the iPhone may have resulted in a temporary dip at Verizon Wireless, "we see that rebounding again."

On The Trade-Off Between Faster FiOS Deployments and Dividend Dilutions: "We have franchises and are deploying to twelve million of those [18 million home deployment goal]. We have a gigantic opportunity in front of us which will now take us to the next step and scale it again," he said.

On Whether Verizon Will Experience a Seasonal Drop in Broadband Growth During Q3: "There is no seasonality with respect to the market's acceptance of innovation when it comes to innovative broadband services."

On Whether Broadband Growth Has Hit a Wall Generally: Seidenberg sort of side-stepped this question, but did say that the real focus should be on the entire advanced communications bundle. "What we're really going after is the upgrading of America," he said.

On Whether the FCC Hates Verizon for Appealling It's 700 MHz Decision:"We haven't made a lot of friends at the FCC about this, but we'll be OK."

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on September 19, 2007 11:58 AM to IP Democracy