Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. It is a joy
Speaker 1: to be alongside global citizen. It is a joy to
Speaker 1: be with you hands not running, not running a five
Speaker 1: k exactly, I'm going to do the painful pun because
Speaker 1: that was a short run, maybe five k. It's a marathon,
Speaker 1: not a sprint. When we're getting to things like closing
Speaker 1: the digital divide, now, I want to understand the scale
Speaker 1: of the problem. Can you articulate just how difficult it
Speaker 1: is right now for people to actually get access.
Speaker 2: So the positive is that the last four or five
Speaker 2: years we've added one billion people more to be diggn included.
Speaker 2: It's roughly five point five billion in the world that
Speaker 2: is having access to internet, but it's two point six
Speaker 2: billion today that still are not connected. And we all
Speaker 2: know being connected to your part of our society. You
Speaker 2: can work, you can get it location, you can get
Speaker 2: digital information. It's so important. So other two point six
Speaker 2: billion people that are not connected on this earth today,
Speaker 2: roughly ninety percent of them are actually covered by broadband
Speaker 2: in some kind of fashion. Ninety percent ninety percent, And
Speaker 2: then you ask me, so why you're OneD ucing it?
Speaker 2: So there are different problems in different countries but basically
Speaker 2: you need to break it down in three things. The
Speaker 2: access to the technology. That has to be some broad
Speaker 2: and there are still four five hundred million people on
Speaker 2: this earth that is outside the grid. And then it's
Speaker 2: roughly and then the second part is affordability. You need
Speaker 2: to be able to afford it. And that's not only
Speaker 2: to have the plan for broadband or wireless. It's so
Speaker 2: have a device in many countries that's very expensive to have.
Speaker 2: And finally it has to be usability. It has to
Speaker 2: be digital education, digital healthcare and other societal important application
Speaker 2: to actually be important for dignitil inclusion. Many all are
Speaker 2: sitting here we think that being digited and included, we
Speaker 2: can we can stream YouTube or something like that. But
Speaker 2: here we talk about it shouldn't matter where you're born,
Speaker 2: where you come from, or where you live. You shall
Speaker 2: have the same chance wherever you come from. And that
Speaker 2: you can have if you digit it included, you can
Speaker 2: apply for a job, you can get the job, all
Speaker 2: of that and you can learn which others that are
Speaker 2: inside the digital divide can do. So that's why the
Speaker 2: two point six billion people is very important to address
Speaker 2: together with the countries and with companies to see that
Speaker 2: we're actually shrinking that.
Speaker 1: When you look at the learning side of the equation.
Speaker 1: I know that's something that Verizon's doing deeply. So you
Speaker 1: already say, look, most people actually have access in some
Speaker 1: way of they've got broadband they could tap into. Why
Speaker 1: are you looking at the education piece in particular, and
Speaker 1: what are you doing about that here in the United States.
Speaker 2: So if you look what Variazon is doing, we have
Speaker 2: cities in Verizon where we connect our business to things
Speaker 2: that are in our society. One of those goals is
Speaker 2: to make ticketing inclusion for ten million students, getting students
Speaker 2: in the toughest areas where there are no connectivity to
Speaker 2: actually be part of it. So we have roughly six
Speaker 2: hundred schools around the country where we have broadband into
Speaker 2: the school, we give them a device, and we give
Speaker 2: them digital stem education, and I have to use them
Speaker 2: all three because then you'll really get to the root
Speaker 2: of it. So far, our commitment over ten years is
Speaker 2: to educate ten million students. We have done seven million
Speaker 2: so far and we're six years left. So we're going
Speaker 2: to do ten million students in the low income areas
Speaker 2: of the United States. Those schools are going to get
Speaker 2: broadband from us, and then I use my employees to
Speaker 2: be volunteers so they are part of the journey as well,
Speaker 2: to educate, maintain equipment, et cetera. So for us, it's
Speaker 2: an ecosystem. But then you ask me, why are we
Speaker 2: doing it? It's my business. My business is doing broadband.
Speaker 2: My business is to get children to understand and use
Speaker 2: digital tools and ultimately they might remember Verizon and then
Speaker 2: they're going to be a customer who.
Speaker 1: Knows are you okay? So it's good business. But do
Speaker 1: your investors get that? Do they see the long term
Speaker 1: benefits rather than you know, margin today, revenue today, profit today.
Speaker 2: I think that when you go away from the acronyms
Speaker 2: that everybody talks about and talk about what you're doing
Speaker 2: that is part of your business, everybody understands it because
Speaker 2: there are many acronyms ESD, D and I and all
Speaker 2: of that talk about what you're doing and why that
Speaker 2: is connecting to your business. For me to get broadland,
Speaker 2: to get you to use our service and then educate
Speaker 2: THEMSELM with STEM, they might even end up working for me.
Speaker 2: And we have been onto this Verizonal Innovative Learning for
Speaker 2: more than ten years and we keep all the school
Speaker 2: We continue with them and many of the shielding has
Speaker 2: started with us in the first and second grade. They
Speaker 2: are now actually have graduated and they're out in the
Speaker 2: work life and they will always remember how they get
Speaker 2: their part of being in digitally included. So for us,
Speaker 2: this is a is an ecosystem that is so important
Speaker 2: for us, for our business, for being even more prosperous.
Speaker 1: Can I just take a step back and for a moment,
Speaker 1: as two Europeans who've come to the US, how can
Speaker 1: you hear? Why are we here? Well, because it's the
Speaker 1: biggest economy in the world. Yes, and there are ten
Speaker 1: million children that need to be educated in stem by
Speaker 1: you in the biggest economy in the world. What is
Speaker 1: the US government doing about affordable connectivity? Because all I
Speaker 1: can see is actually they're pulling back on some of
Speaker 1: the funding for it.
Speaker 2: So historically and now we're coming into a little more
Speaker 2: complicated Historically, US or still have ACP, which is affordable
Speaker 2: connectivity plans, meaning that low income families can get a
Speaker 2: subsidy to get broad band or wireless connectivity. Now there's
Speaker 2: a discussion in the compress if they're going to vote
Speaker 2: about again, but I have talked to many governments and
Speaker 2: there are different challenges in different countries. But doing subsidy
Speaker 2: for low income families to getting connected is so important
Speaker 2: because they can be partners, they can apply for on job,
Speaker 2: they can work remotely when we are so many remote
Speaker 2: works today, customer care et cetera, and other works that
Speaker 2: you can do consultancy, et cetera. So being part of
Speaker 2: that and having access to that makes it you can grow,
Speaker 2: you be part of our society. It's so important for
Speaker 2: the whole country for GDP growth and all of that.
Speaker 1: I mean yes, and for me that still needs to
Speaker 1: resonate so much that we're even talking about children here
Speaker 1: in the United States that need corporate philanthropy to be
Speaker 1: able to learn, to earn, and to be able to
Speaker 1: afford affordable devices. Where have you seen the most tangible
Speaker 1: benefits You've talked about how you're getting out there ten
Speaker 1: million children, how already has some of the impact that
Speaker 1: you've thought about the digital divide already come to bear
Speaker 1: for productivity even here in the US.
Speaker 2: I think here in the US, I mean I think
Speaker 2: in the whole world. I mean we saw coming off
Speaker 2: from COVID. I think that nobody could say that being
Speaker 2: connected is not important. You cann't do your work. You
Speaker 2: can get the information you needed to be connected. And
Speaker 2: that is not in us, it's all the world. All
Speaker 2: around the world. We saw countries like India flourishing to
Speaker 2: setting the digital Vivie very high up to see that
Speaker 2: they're connecting. They got their COVID subsidies, to families, to
Speaker 2: mobile phones, see things we never thought can happen. But
Speaker 2: that triggered the whole world to think differently. And I
Speaker 2: usually say that the twenty first century infrastructure, that's mobility
Speaker 2: broadening cloud because then you can bring down the coast
Speaker 2: and you can reach any person on this earth that
Speaker 2: want to be part of our society.
Speaker 1: Why is it your calling? You have you ever since
Speaker 1: you've been in the world of telecoms, thought this is
Speaker 1: just something that is impossible to ignore? Or does it
Speaker 1: become worse and worse the more we've become seeing education
Speaker 1: necessary through technology, healthcare necessary through technology.
Speaker 2: I think it started probably some fifteen twenty years ago.
Speaker 2: I worked with the MDGs for the younger generation, that
Speaker 2: was the Millennium Development Goals that was before the STDs,
Speaker 2: and I went to Africa many times, and I connected
Speaker 2: villages and I remember vividly when I went to a theopia,
Speaker 2: for example, and we turned on internet in the community,
Speaker 2: the share how positive, how happy they were, and how
Speaker 2: thankful we are now part of our society. We can
Speaker 2: now get information what als it started there. Then I've
Speaker 2: been been my long life mission to see that whatever
Speaker 2: I can you do from the platform I have and
Speaker 2: from the company I'm running, still with the technology and
Speaker 2: still with the business and strategy we have, I'm going
Speaker 2: to do everything to see that can close the digital divide.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about not just the digital divide here in
Speaker 1: the US, but there's a digital divide globally. And that's
Speaker 1: something that you, in particular, have tried to harness, tried
Speaker 1: to focus on, trying to reduce and what you've got
Speaker 1: an eye on one billion people? Can you talk us
Speaker 1: through it?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So we came out from that COVID and I
Speaker 2: felt that now it's time for me to do something
Speaker 2: greater on the global basis. I decided to get with
Speaker 2: World Economic Forum to set up a program over five
Speaker 2: years to see that we connect one billion people more.
Speaker 2: That started in the beginning of twenty one and what
Speaker 2: it's all about. Is that not only getting broadband. As
Speaker 2: I said, it was about broadband, but it was either
Speaker 2: to be digital, education, healthcare, or financially included digitally because
Speaker 2: that was three things were so important coming out of COVID.
Speaker 2: So the only way we would count the new editions
Speaker 2: was actually if they are into that, and today we
Speaker 2: basically have one hundred and thirty seven countries being part
Speaker 2: of it, one hundred and sixty different champions doing commitments.
Speaker 2: My commitment is or Verizon's commitment is a ten million
Speaker 2: student that we're committing and every company or government being
Speaker 2: part of it, they are committing to it. So that's
Speaker 2: how it started. We are now have three hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty different programs around the world. We're twenty three hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty I think that's a number. And we have
Speaker 2: passed seven hundred and eighty four million people in less
Speaker 2: than two and a half year that has been included.
Speaker 1: Can we just yeah, seven hundred and eighty four million
Speaker 1: in two and a half years. Okay, so I'm playing
Speaker 1: Devil's advocate greenwashing. Yeah, tell me how you measure this? No?
Speaker 2: So, yeah, so we did. That was one of the
Speaker 2: first things. So we have actually a team. We have
Speaker 2: an auditing team from a very reputable audited in firm
Speaker 2: auditing all the commitments done by governments or by the companies,
Speaker 2: whatever they're committing, and that they're they're succeeding with the result.
Speaker 2: We're quarterly reporting and we do an annual report. We
Speaker 2: are on a second report because we started twenty one,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty second twenty year, twenty two was the second year,
Speaker 2: and then twenty three and twenty four and then as said,
Speaker 2: the goal is one billion, we're on seven eighty four.
Speaker 2: I think we're going to be ahead of the five
Speaker 2: years by.
Speaker 1: The two point six billion you said came.
Speaker 2: So this is part of the two point six billion
Speaker 2: that we're shrinking. The two point six billion.
Speaker 1: And how if you're sat in this audient right now
Speaker 1: you're feeling pretty inspired by you going out there sticking
Speaker 1: your neckout on a one billion target, how can they help?
Speaker 2: I think that any organization, any structure that is actually
Speaker 2: having part of the strategy to see that we're including
Speaker 2: people digitally on this earth can be part of it.
Speaker 2: And the beauty of it it has to be sort
Speaker 2: of private public because you cannot solve it yourself. I
Speaker 2: mean usually building networks to ninety nine percent is private capital.
Speaker 2: It's guys like me building networks. When it comes to affordability,
Speaker 2: it actually work together with governments. If you're going to
Speaker 2: subsidize on all of that and then to create sort
Speaker 2: of usability healthcare, education, or financial inclusion digitally, mainly that's
Speaker 2: owned by governments, So you have to do it crossover.
Speaker 2: If not, you're not going to succeed. So anyone that
Speaker 2: is working with those type of things and think that
Speaker 2: they can help and have an organization that commit, they're
Speaker 2: welcome to join the Edison Alliance that we're running in
Speaker 2: order to see that we bridge that gap and reduce
Speaker 2: it with one billion in less than five years.
Speaker 1: And let's tackle the full two point six billion. Hands.
Speaker 1: It's an inspiration. Thank you very much. Keep up with
Speaker 1: a running, keep up with the marathon.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: We appreciate it all so much