[GRLUG] FiOS -- NOT

[Adam Tauno Williams]

On Fri, 2010-03-26 at 15:45 -0400, Bob Kline wrote:
> If you had fantasies about getting
> Verizon's FiOS one day,  be prepared
> to wait.  You might have a better chance
> betting on Google.

So far I've been quite happy with AT&T's Uverse service.

> But Verizon is nearing the end of its program to replace copper phone
> lines with optical fibers that provide much higher Internet speeds and
> TV service. Its focus is now on completing the network in the
> communities where it's already secured "franchises," the rights to
> sell TV service that rivals cable, said spokeswoman Heather Wilner.

This pretty much makes sense;  why sell a universal service in markets
where you can't include portions of 'universal' (TV)?

> Verizon never committed to bringing FiOS to its entire local-phone
> service area. 

And what company, anywhere, has "committed" to bringing broadband to its
entire market? 

> It has introduced FiOS in 16 states, but the deployment is
> concentrated on the East Coast,

Which has dramatically higher customer-per-square-miles.

> Moffett believes the end of FiOS expansion means that cable companies
> will lose fewer subscribers, starting next year.

With Comcast cutting of analog service market by market I think the
shedding of customers will continue.