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Verizon's Chief Technology Officer talks 6G

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  Published in Science and Technology on Friday, September 26th 2025 at 7:24 GMT by PhoneArena
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Verizon Names a New CTO to Spearhead the Company’s 6G Ambitions

PhoneArena – September 2025

In a high‑stakes reshuffle that underscores Verizon’s commitment to staying ahead of the next generation of wireless technology, the company has announced the appointment of Steve Liao as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). While Liao has been a familiar face on Verizon’s technology team for the past two years, the promotion marks a clear signal that the carrier is serious about its 6G roadmap and is ready to position itself as a global leader in the forthcoming era of wireless communications.

A Brief Overview of Steve Liao’s Career

Steve Liao’s career is a textbook example of how deep technical expertise combined with strategic business acumen can propel a leader to the top echelons of a telecommunications giant. Prior to joining Verizon in 2021, Liao held senior engineering and product roles at AT&T and Qualcomm, where he was instrumental in driving the development of the company’s 4G LTE and 5G NR stacks. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and his research has appeared in IEEE journals on millimeter‑wave propagation and network optimization.

Within Verizon, Liao first served as the Vice President of Technology and Strategy, where he led the company’s multi‑year plan for 5G deployment, including the rollout of nationwide mmWave and sub‑6 GHz bands. In 2024, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Emerging Technologies, giving him oversight of the company’s 6G research labs, partnership programs, and standards‑setting initiatives.

Verizon’s 6G Vision

The article, which pulls in additional context from Verizon’s own corporate press releases, explains that the company is treating 6G as a “transformational leap” that will go beyond mere speed. Verizon’s 6G research labs, located in San Francisco, Boston, and Shenzhen, are already prototyping key enablers such as Terahertz (THz) frequency bands, intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS), and artificial‑intelligence‑driven network orchestration.

The piece notes that Verizon has already filed a series of patents covering THz transceivers and that the company is actively participating in the 3GPP’s Release 18 working groups that are laying down the technical specifications for 6G. According to a statement quoted in the article, Liao said, “Our goal is to deliver end‑to‑end 6G solutions that enable real‑time holographic video, autonomous driving, and ubiquitous edge computing—capabilities that are simply impossible with today’s 5G technology.”

Strategic Partnerships and Ecosystem Engagement

One of the article’s key take‑aways is Verizon’s emphasis on collaboration over competition. Liao’s inaugural speech as CTO highlighted the carrier’s intent to work closely with a wide range of industry stakeholders, including chipmakers like Qualcomm and MediaTek, infrastructure vendors such as Nokia and Ericsson, and academic institutions such as MIT and the University of Cambridge.

The article links to Verizon’s “Partnerships” page, which details several joint research initiatives. For instance, Verizon and Qualcomm are collaborating on AI‑assisted beamforming that could reduce latency by 30 % in dense urban environments. Meanwhile, Verizon’s partnership with Nokia focuses on integrating non‑orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) techniques into next‑generation base stations, a feature that promises to increase spectral efficiency dramatically.

The Competitive Landscape

The article contextualizes Verizon’s move by pointing to the competitive pressures from global carriers such as AT&T, T‑Mobile, and China’s Huawei and ZTE, all of whom are racing to secure the first‑mover advantage in 6G. While Huawei has been a dominant force in 5G hardware and is actively lobbying for a leadership role in 6G standards, Verizon’s strategy is to combine in‑house R&D with strategic acquisitions and open‑innovation initiatives.

One link in the article leads to a 2023 report by the GSMA, which ranks Verizon among the top five global operators that have the strongest 6G roadmaps. The report cites Verizon’s $12 billion investment in 6G research over the next five years, a figure that is more than double that of its nearest competitor.

Implications for Consumers and Businesses

While 6G is still several years away from commercial deployment, the article outlines the early‑stage use cases that are already on the horizon. Among these are:

1. Ultra‑low latency applications such as real‑time augmented reality (AR) gaming and remote surgery.
2. Massive IoT deployments, where billions of sensors will need to communicate with minimal power consumption.
3. Edge‑AI services that can process data near the source, enabling faster decision‑making in autonomous vehicles and smart factories.

Liao emphasized that Verizon’s network‑centric business model—where the carrier not only provides connectivity but also offers infrastructure, security, and data analytics services—positions it uniquely to capture these markets. In other words, Verizon isn’t just building a radio network; it’s building an entire ecosystem that can monetize 6G in a variety of verticals.

A Forward‑Looking Leadership Style

The article also touches on Liao’s management philosophy. Known for his hands‑on approach, Liao often visits testbeds and speaks with engineers on the ground. He encourages a culture of continuous experimentation and is not afraid to pivot quickly if a new technology shows promise. This agile mindset, the article notes, has already led Verizon to adopt a more open‑source approach to its network software, leveraging Linux‑based platforms to accelerate development cycles.

Bottom Line

Steve Liao’s appointment as Verizon’s CTO signals a decisive pivot toward 6G, with a clear vision of how next‑generation technology will reshape society. By investing heavily in research, forming strategic alliances, and fostering an innovative culture, Verizon aims to capture a leadership role in the emerging 6G ecosystem. For consumers, this means the promise of unprecedented speeds, ultra‑low latency, and transformative applications that will change how we live and work. For Verizon, the move is a calculated risk—one that could cement the carrier’s status as a global technology pioneer or, if miscalculated, leave it trailing in the next wave of wireless innovation. The world will be watching as the next decade of connectivity unfolds.