06/18/2008, 10:25am, EDT
Wednesday, June 18thVerizon ups FIOS speeds to 50Mbps US-wide
Verizon today it would upgrade all the speeds for its FIOS fiber-optic service nationwide, giving users in all 16 states the same speeds that were previously reserved only for the most competitive areas. All of FIOS' 16 states now have access to up to 50Mbps downloads with 20Mbps uploads at the highest-end, $140 monthly tier ($90 in New York state and Virginia) versus the 30/15 services that were used for most regions; the synchronous 15/15 service is also slightly faster at 20/20 across those areas without changing the $65 monthly rate.
These and other plans are available without Verizon's landline phone service for an extra $5 each.
Baseline speeds in these areas have been given similar treatment, according to Verizon. The most basic 5/2 tier ($43 per month) has had its download speeds doubled to 10Mbps for all areas; the more common 15/2 plan at $53 per month receives the second-largest upgrade today with an increase to 20Mbps downstream and 5Mbps upstream. All the speed upgrades become active next week, though Verizon notes that existing subscribers can call in to make sure that their service is running at the improved connection rates.
The company also hinted at a further upgrade to 100Mbps in the future, which is believed to be both the ceiling for most current fiber-to-the-home technology as well as most home Ethernet connections. "We've already had successful trials of the 100-megabit home, which will be a reality faster than anybody thinks," according to the company's chief operating officer, Denny Strigl.
Verizon's upgrade comes as a potential blow to a number of US cable Internet operators, many of whom have felt compelled to increase their connection speeds in those areas where FIOS is an option and particularly where the 50Mbps plans have been available. Comcast and Time Warner Cable have also been mulling transfer caps with overage fees to reduce the cost of their own service while Verizon has so far refrained from taking the same approach with its fiber-optic network.
Filed under: industry, networking
Other story tags: Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, FiOS
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How about just DSL/Cable?
That sounds REALLY fast! But what I want to know is when will us folks who live in rural areas even get DSL! Being restricted to Satellite is a real bummer (though it's much better than dial-up)
Sweet!
I'll have to check speedtest.net when I get home. I have 15/15 (which is plenty fast) but will take 20/20 for the same price! Currently, I can completely DL an HD movie on my AppleTV in 35 minutes. FIOS is everything it is cracked up to be...
Great
Gee, that's great. Rural areas? You don't know the half of it dude. I live in a section of Brooklyn NYC and we STILL don't have FIOS here. I'm tired of waiting for Verizon to get their ass in gear and bring it to my neighborhood. You'd think I live in the boonies or something.
Come on Verizon! Start laying that fiber already! If you want to take me away from Time Warner, you'll have to give me something better than DSL.
Please come to Canada!
I would drop Shaw in a second if Verizon brought Fios here!
No FIOS in many areas
We were told we would have FIOS a year ago, but still nothing in sight.
That said, I sure would like to try FIOS -- faster speeds and lower cost than my Time Warner Cable (and my router needs to be reset almost every day, which kills my webcam security setup).
backward
nativeNYer, not having FiOS is one thing, but the rural point is far worse, man. You can still get DSL and Cable where you're at, which is totally acceptable. My in-laws are stuck on dialup. It's horrible. Their only alternative is sat, which isn't great.
You have it totally backward. Try going back to dial up before saying someone doesn't know the half of it.