Verizon's Fiber Plans Become Clearer
from the take-that,-cable dept
It’s no secret that Verizon is betting big on fiber to the home, but more details are starting to come out. Business Week is reporting that they’re soon going to TV services over fiber in parts of nine different states either by the end of this year, or early next year. This is (obviously) a move to fight back against cable companies who can already offer the triple play of voice, video and data services. Of course, once the fiber to the home is there it can be used for a lot more than just video. Verizon also expects to offer broadband services up to 30Mpbs, with lower tiered plans around 5 to 15Mbps – and the ability to upgrade speeds much higher. The cable companies say they’re not worried because the Baby Bells have said similar things before. Of course, the technology has gotten much better, and Verizon seems fairly serious this time. Still, it’s likely that the technology won’t live up to it’s initial billing and there will be problems. However, at this point they’re aiming high enough that even if they’re somewhat off the mark, it may be difficult for cable to keep up. What will also be interesting is to see how this higher speed offering eventually ties into their wireless plans through Verizon Wireless. They’ve been fairly aggressive on that front and it’s not hard to see the two converging in some ways.
