A comment from inside Verizon made to me casually recently was that Verizon has really stopped further development and expansion of FIOS. We’ve seen this before with them. Some years back they experimented with WiFi around Manhattan using the phone booths as hotspots. The idea was killed. Now I’m hearing the word about FIOS. Well the WiFi was killed off reportedly at the behest of the wireless group at Verizon Wireless who didn’t want the wireline guys in their pool. With such a big investment into LTE do you think the same kind of thinking is at work?
Next is AT&T with uVerse which is likely going the same route. Given the current and planned regulatory climate, plus the planned entry of Google, they are both likely figuring its not worth it to be in the consumer broadband business.
Rumor? I believe this is fact. Shortly after the current FCC administration started making noises about changing the regulatory environment, Verizon said they were not starting “new” FiOS deployments.
Needless to say, cities like Baltimore are Not Happy that they aren’t going to get the latest shiny broadband offerings.
The “rumor” part to this is that Verizon has slowed/stopped deploying new fiber builds because it’s expensive to deploy fiber and the uptake on FiOS has not been as good as the company needs to get good ROI on the deployment expense.
The true question is if Verizon has “halted” FiOS rollout until there is better clarity on the regulatory environment (or until the next set of Republicans roll into the White House) or if there is an actual real-money driver to the move.
– Doug Mohney
Hmmm…this couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the idea that the telecomm companies are floating that net neutrality will kill investment. 😉
I call this one a complete bluff. AT&T’s declaration makes sense, given that investments in bandwidth-limited ADSL2 in a neutral-net world are already starting to fizzle as cable companies are leapfrogging AT&T’s “next generation” speeds of 20Mpbs. uVerse’s fate is decided by the market, not by regulation.
Is true? Internet free? I think not.
Regards.
That is sad to hear. I hope it is not true. Having The speed of FIOS really has enabled me to be much more productive from a home office. My friends who don’t have the service are envious, here in the Tampa bay area, and will be crushed if the plans to expand into their neighborhoods are stopped.