VZ Gains From Healthy Demand in Public Safety Domain: Will it Persist?

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ recently announced that the Tampa Police Department has formed a partnership with Verizon Frontline. The department has introduced the connected officer initiative, the objective of which is to equip all patrolling officers with smartphones which incorporate leading-edge law enforcement applications.

Police officers often have to operate in a hostile environment. In such a situation, access to robust communication and enforcement applications is paramount for greater cooperation. Verizon Frontline is set to deploy and activate around 950 5G Ultra-Wideband-enabled smartphones, significantly upgrading the mission-critical communication infrastructure of the police department. The company is also conducting major network upgrades in Florida, which include enhancing the region’s fiber network infrastructure to withstand harsh weather conditions and boost disaster preparedness.

Verizon operates in a highly competitive and saturated telecom market where it faces competition from prominent players such as T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS and AT&T, Inc. T. Intensifying competition with a relatively fixed pool of customers is putting pressure on pricing. Hence, the company is steadily expanding its portfolio and moving beyond the legacy connectivity business to open up new avenues of revenue generation. 

Per a report from Grand View Research, the global public safety and security market, which is valued at $516.68 billion in 2024, is estimated to reach $1.1 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% from 2025 to 2030. The U.S.  public safety and security market holds the largest share in this market. Verizon aims to capitalize on this emerging market trend.

How Are Competitors Faring?

Verizon faces competition from T-Mobile and AT&T in the public safety connectivity domain. T-Priority, which is T-Mobile’s flagship product for first responders and public safety officials, comes with robust connectivity and capacity. The company is expanding the T-Priority 5G coverage across 500K square miles of rural America to connect first responders and safety officials anywhere across the country. T-Mobile is positioning itself as the nation’s first 5G standalone network slice provider for public safety operations.

AT&T is a major player in the public safety connectivity domain. The FirstNet, a public-private partnership, is a dedicated network infrastructure for public safety and emergency responders. FirstNet covers more than 2.99 square miles and it continues to expand based on first responders’ feedback. In 2025, AT&T deployed 1,000 new cell sites to support public safety operations across rural and remote areas of the country.

VZ’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Verizon has lost 0.7% over the past year against the Wireless National industry’s growth of 14.9%.

Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 9.07, down from 13.6 for the industry.

Earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have improved over the past 60 days.

Verizon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research