Telecom Review recently visited with Dawane Young, Executive Director and Head of Marketing for Verizon Partner Solutions, to get a feel for some of their dynamic network growth opportunities for 2023. Dawane is a member of the Verizon Partner Solutions (VPS) leadership team. He leads the product management organization supporting the full portfolio of products and solutions for VPS covering products such as Network Connectivity, Voice, Wireless Infrastructure and Connectivity, and Applications. Dawane’s team is responsible for identifying key market opportunities, defining commercial models and customer requirements, and driving the development and launch of innovative solutions in the wholesale space. Dawane’s team also helps to identify emerging markets.
Below is his point of view regarding what is trending for the FWA service that Verizon Partner Solutions offers in partnership with its Verizon Wireless counterparts.
TR: Fixed Wireless Access continues to be highly promoted, how are things going with this product and why is it so important to Verizon Partner Solutions?
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has demonstrated promising growth and performance. We in VPS have observed substantial advancements in technology, allowing us to provide high-speed internet connectivity to businesses in areas where FWA is available and where traditional wired infrastructure might be challenging or costly to deploy. The deployment of 5G technology, specifically the proliferation of C-Band spectrum, in particular, has enhanced the capabilities of FWA, delivering impressive speeds and low latency.
FWA's wireless nature provides a level of flexibility that traditional wired solutions sometimes lack. The ability to rapidly deploy FWA infrastructure, where available, is particularly advantageous, allowing us to reach customers in a shorter time frame compared to laying physical infrastructure to the premise. This flexibility is especially beneficial in scenarios such as disaster recovery or temporary deployments, where quick connectivity is critical.
FWA offers an alternative that reduces the need for extensive groundwork, trenching, and associated construction costs. By optimizing our network and leveraging existing cellular infrastructure, we can deliver high-speed internet to a broader VPS customer base without compromising on quality.
TR: How should users look at security as it relates to FWA?
FWA can help solve many of the issues users face. It offers reliable internet connectivity and, by combining FWA with Verizon Security Solutions where available, it can give partners the mix of reliability, security, value and service they require. Verizon security solutions help keep our partners ready for business. One of the things we in VPS discuss with partners regarding security is that Verizon can help build a security program from scratch or help boost existing policies and controls. Verizon boasts more than 25 years of security experience and teams of skilled security professionals to assist our clients. Partners can leverage these solutions with FWA to have access to innovative mobile security solutions designed to help protect the networks, critical data and apps, and mobile devices.
TR: For many years and thousands of end users, customer management of their routers has been an issue. How are you looking at providing customers the opportunity to manage their routers?
We recognize the significance of efficient customer router management, and we are adopting a comprehensive approach to address these challenges and enhance the user experience. The benefits our partners are looking for include: ease of use, faster time to value, scalability and remote monitoring.
We’re excited to provide our partners with features to manage their Verizon-provided routers.
Functionality that is available or is expected to soon be available includes dashboard views, router lists, and basic router configurations and settings within a single portal view. We also are working on providing partners with advanced router management features, router and network alerts, reporting, policy and group management capabilities as well as user and role-based management controls.