Social Feed

korsjs said:

alot of us knew this was going to happen, but this is sooner than i expected. here is a article from the tampa tribune today saying the speed increase will happen by march 1.

http://www.tbo.com/news/scitech/MGBZCR0JGYE.html

By RICHARD MULLINS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Feb 22, 2007

TAMPA - If you love your cable TV, Internet and phone, get ready for two Tampa Bay area companies to fight even harder to sell you all three.

This year, Verizon Communications will finish the majority of its new fiber-optic network across Hillsborough County and ramp up the network with faster Internet speeds at no extra cost, more links with cell phones and possibly more TV channels.

Verizon also will launch more marketing to tempt customers away from rival Bright House Networks: more Verizon airplane banners flying above Tampa, rolling billboards and TV commercials.

The company has even taken to throwing block parties in neighborhoods and condo towers where it starts to sell service, with free food, music and the Verizon FiOS logo plastered everywhere.

"The build-out is going quite, quite well here," said John Ferrell, general manager of Verizon's southeast division. With much of Verizon's new system built, Ferrell plans to launch new ways to take advantage of the network.

Bright House, meanwhile, is not sitting still. The area's long-dominant cable provider will offer services such as a "start over" system that lets customers pause and rewind live TV without buying new equipment.

Bright House spokesman Joe Durkin said his company has 325,000 home telephone customers, and it is shifting more cable TV customers to digital cable. "We expect this will be a positive year for us," he said.

Verizon last year finished about one-third of its fiber-optic network in Hillsborough County, and it may finish "the vast majority" by December, Ferrell said. Verizon could reach 560,000 homes in the region with cable TV by 2008.

Verizon plans more network construction in parts of Manatee and Pasco counties and expansion into more rural areas. Soon, parts of west Pasco should have video service, spokesman Bob Elek said.

Even in developed areas, pockets of neighborhoods remain for Verizon to turn on cable TV, including 20,000 homes in the Brandon area due this summer.

Customers in Pinellas County, however, will probably have to wait well into 2008 for this kind of competition. Verizon executives say the peninsula simply has too many small city governments that would each have a say on how Verizon would operate.

Internet Speeds Up To 150% Faster
Customers of Verizon FiOS Internet service may notice some of the first changes this year. By March 1, Verizon plans to boost residential FiOS Internet access speeds 30 percent to 150 percent, to higher levels than have ever been sold through DSL or cable modems to residential customers in the area.

Verizon's midlevel Internet speeds will rise from 15 megabytes per second download to 20, and upload speeds will rise from 2 megabytes to 5, at no extra cost. The higher-tier 30 download and 5 upload speeds will rise to 50 download and 10 upload, also at no extra cost.

Verizon will probably increase those speeds again later. In some cities, Verizon is selling 100 megabyte download speeds, which is faster than many connections at corporate offices.

Such speeds appeal to Internet gaming aficionados. Verizon now has a TV ad campaign featuring players with faster Internet speeds who dominate their games.

Bright House offers home Internet access at 7, 10 and 15 megabytes per second download speeds and has no plans to boost the speeds in the immediate future, Durkin said. However, the company regularly gauges customer interest in higher speeds and last year boosted the speeds of some intermediate services.

Cell Phone Service Enters Fray
The marketing battle between the companies also will intensify.

Verizon will press Bright House on the types of packaged services offered, Ferrell said. With telephone, Internet and cable TV in the lineup, Verizon is adding cellular service from Verizon Wireless, giving it a "quadruple play" package. Customers will see more offers for tiers and different combinations of service.

Bright House executives have explored the possibility of offering cell phone service, Durkin said.

So far, the companies have avoided an all-out price war, though that may become more likely as each company signs up more customers and the market matures.

"We're going to be out there," Ferrell said. "A lot."

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@tampatrib.com.

Click to expand...

skottey said:

St. Pete will be lucky to get it by the end of 2008. I have lived on both sides of the bay and have to say I like SP better for living but I would have to say that this is the worst thing about living in Pinellas. We now get to wait because there are just too many little cities each wanting their own deals so Verizon is reluctant. Hello, start with St. Pete and Clearwater and then work your way into the smaller cities. Pinellas is the most densely populated county in the state, which means more money (income) per mile of fiber as opposed to rural Hillsborough or stinkin' Manatee. Bradenton sucks by the way, I lived there too in the mid 90s.

Click to expand...