Verizon Communications Inc. is planning to restructure its businesses into three units as part of a plan to optimize itself for opportunities in the upcoming era of 5G networks.

The telecommunications company said today it will split into units focused on consumers, businesses and its media and advertising businesses, which it picked up through its acquisitions of Yahoo! Inc. and AOL and currently operates under the “Oath” brand.

As part of the reorganization, Verizon will centralize its corporate, information technology and network functions to serve each unit. The reshuffle will be effective from January 1, 2019, and its financial reporting will reflect the changes from the second quarter.

“This new structure reflects a clear strategy that starts with Verizon customers,” said Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg. “We’re building on our network transformation efforts and the Intelligent Edge architecture to deliver new customer experiences and optimize the growth opportunities we see as leaders in the 5G era.”

5G services are set to introduce much faster mobile data networking, with the promised lower latency likely to crank up the performance of numerous kinds of applications and systems, including emerging technologies such as virtual reality. Verizon’s reorganization shows the company clearly wants to be at the forefront of these advances, and it has already rolled out initial 5G services in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

The three new business units include the Verizon Consumer Group, which encompasses its consumer wireless service offerings. The Verizon Business Group will be responsible for providing wireless and wireline services to enterprises, small businesses and government customers, and includes the Verizon Connect brand under its umbrella. Finally, the Verizon Media Group replaces the Oath brand and will focus on advertising, commerce, entertainment and media.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said Verizon’s move illustrates how fast-moving changes in technology are forcing the telecom sector to respond in order to take advantage.

“Focusing and aligning on customer needs is always a good true north, so Verizon’s move should benefit its customers,” Mueller said. “But the challenge with this organizational setup is to leverage cross-segment synergies and efficiencies around common technology such as 5G as well as processes.”

The biggest impact of 5G should be felt in Verizon’s new business group, leading to faster and better-performing applications in data analytics, edge computing and “internet of things” scenarios.

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