Verizon to End Rollout of FiOS

wallyhts

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Lifetime Supporter
Apr 24, 2008
3,218
442
WSJ has an article today by Roger Cheng

"Verizon will no longer seek new cities to roll out its FiOS TV Service as the company nears the end of its $23 billion network upgrade project"

Could no find the link on website.
 
Hmmm. Gotta wonder what effects, if any, for current subs. Price or otherwise.
 
FiOS is just fine...the economy sucks and they have contractual obligation to meet

The service is GREAT, but to damn Expensive. It was over before it started. :(:(:(:(
If you consider too expensive meaning paying less and receiving more than Cable or Satellite then yes, it's too expensive. My FiOS Triple Play costs more than $60 less than my folks similarly equipped Comcast Triple Play...minus the staticy phone service, 50 less HD channels, watered-down SD and HD channels, and less reliable Internet.

Verizon is suspending the expansion of FiOS for three reasons:

1) It's expensive to build the network and economy sucks
2) They are spending billions on their 3G and 4G wireless networks
3) They have contractual build-out obligations with existing Cable TV franchises

As I stated back in January, "FiOS has been a losing venture since it's inception, but it was their only alternative since the landline business has been bleeding customers. As I recall, Verizon has invested something like 26 billion into the FiOS buildout. I also recall reading in their 3Q report that FiOS would start making a profit in 2010. Regardless, is appears that Verizon has slowed the build-out and is focusing on increasing their penetration rates in existing markets. This action is partly due to the economy (the business and consumer markets are hurting) and mostly because they are spending buckets of money on their wireless segment - building out the 4G network. I guess Verizon Wireless doesn't want to be the butt of jokes after AT&T completes their wireless upgrades. FiOS is an outstanding product, but it is certainly not cheap running fiber-to-the-premise."

As I stated back in February 2007, "It's [FiOS] three miles and perhaps as much as three years away from my neck-of-the-woods..." At my Virginia home Verizon had obtained a Cable TV franchise roughtly 3 1/2 years ago, but (according my sources on the cable commission), Verizon is currently only offering service to less than 20% of residents. There are "SIGNIFICANT PENALTIES" involved if Verizon fails to meet the build-out requirements. For example, there were initial build-out areas had to be completed and FiOS TV offered service within the first 12-months. The only build-out requirement in the Country is that Verizon offer FiOS TV service to 60% residents within 7-years, and 80% of residents within 10-years. Well, Verizon now has less than 3 1/2 years to build-out their service to approximately 40% of the residents...and this is similar to other areas they obtained a cable franchise authority back in 2006 and 2007.

Three and one-half years ago FiOS TV service was being offered 3-miles away from our home address...and it is still 3-miles away. Although there has been some construction, they now need to build-out a number of their Central Offices and run fiber...unfortunately, Verizon has been focusing their money and manpower in more populated areas of Northern Virginia.

FiOS is still the best and cheapest Pay TV provide in town...they just aren't coming to any new town that don't already have an existing franchise agreement in place.
 
just paused..they want to make money on existing infrastructure
I agree, but they also have to meeting upcoming build-out obligations in their existing areas. They also wanted "free money" from government as part of the National Broadband Plan. Unfortunately, the money came with too many strings so they balked. I believe this is also a strategy to get money and tax incentives from areas like Baltimore and Alexandria VA who desperately want FiOS.

Turnabout is fair play I suppose...the cities and villages used to shake down Cable prior to letting them into an area...I now see Verizon shaking down the local franchise authority for favorable terms prior to lifting a shovel. I'm sure Verizon would be more than happy to deploy FiOS in Baltimore...just as long as city offers enough incentives.
 
Are they going to finish in the areas they started? They only have about 30% of my town done and have not done a single thing since.
I would think so, but it depends. In my VA county the initial build-out was 15% and 3 1/2 years later they are only at around 20%. According to the franchise agreement Verizon will have to meet the 60% build-out requirement in another 3/12 years and the 80% requirement 3-years later. These are the only contractual build-out requirements Verizon has to meet. Fortunately, we tied significant penalties into the franchise agreement should Verizon not meet the build-out requirements...so it would be in their best interest to do so. I would assume that other local franchise autorities drafter similar agreements (most seek legal guidance from a handful of legal experts in this field), but who knows.
 
Are they going to finish in the areas they started? They only have about 30% of my town done and have not done a single thing since.
Actually, I just noticed our franchise agreement was modified shortly before being signed back in October 2006...the largest penalty (liquid damages) that could be assessed to Verizon for not meeting the build-out requirements (it's actually 65% after 7-years and not 60%) is $56,500 per year. It's unclear (to me) if the county should sue Verizon for breach of contract or how successful they would be.
 
I do not have FIOS available at my address but it is available very near me but that's been the case for quite a while.

It took them forever to even make DSL available to me due to being too far in each direction to get an acceptable level for usage as verified by site survey.

The irony of that is today reportedly I can get it but it's $20 if I also get phone service for the lowest tier of service or $30 for me as a non-phone subscriber isn't a better deal for me when cable broadband is way faster for $35. But mom has the lowest tier DSL in another state for like $10 and has had it for years.

I wish I had a low cost backup option since whenever cable goes down I got no phone and no internet and in FL it's not uncommon to lose service for a while, as you can imagine. DSL costs what they charge and it's just not acceptable to me at that price for slow service that's only better than a 56k dialup modem.

I agree that from ads FIOS looks good. Even the internet only service looks pretty good at current price tiers. If available I would likely give it a try. But if they are putting rollouts on pause it seems like the price would have to increase at some point due to gaining fewer new customers. At a higher price I wouldn't care how good the signal is for broadband or for video. Unlike the Federal government my budget has limits. :p
 
They actually ran FIOS into the area where my in-laws are in Stafford county, VA last summer. They stuck flyers on the house with subscription numbers and such when they where done.

They ran the fiber lines down the main road near my subdivision in Spotsylvania County, VA 2 summers ago and haven't done anything else in the area since then. They have a FIOS rep in the Verizon Wireless store and when we were in there in Jananuary for them to fix my son's phone the rep said he wasn't aware of any plans to do any additional build out in Spotsylvania County, VA this year.

RiffJim which county in VA do you have knowledge on the FIOS franchise agreement for?
 
They actually ran FIOS into the area where my in-laws are in Stafford county, VA last summer. They stuck flyers on the house with subscription numbers and such when they where done.

They ran the fiber lines down the main road near my subdivision in Spotsylvania County, VA 2 summers ago and haven't done anything else in the area since then. They have a FIOS rep in the Verizon Wireless store and when we were in there in Jananuary for them to fix my son's phone the rep said he wasn't aware of any plans to do any additional build out in Spotsylvania County, VA this year.

RiffJim which county in VA do you have knowledge on the FIOS franchise agreement for?
Spotsy...although I have not been actively involved since moving out of state 2+ years ago. Back in the day I volunteered my time and was involved with advocating cable competition throughout Virginia. In fact, the Verizon VA thread was updated frequently when SatGuys co-hosted hightechtv.net. Unfortunately, not much attention was paid to the Cable forums and they just kind of existed.

Anyway, other than Verizon meeting the 7-year (65%) and 10-year (80%) build-out requirement, the County has little say (i.e., zero) in the construction schedule. In fact, Paul Smith (Verizon Franchise Manager) routinely refers build-out questions to Verizon's Virginia Community website. We still own a house back Spotsy, but we're not actively involved with local matters since moving to Texas. Do you pay your taxes to Fredericksburg or Spotsylvania County? If you're in Spotsy, you may wish to attend a Cable TV & Telecommunications Commission meeting (usually held the second Thursday each month): http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/departments/infoserv/cablecom/ - also, you may wish to talk to your District Cable TV member.

The one nice thing about this "halt" in the FiOS rollout is Verizon will now have to focus more attention on deploying FiOS in the areas where they have already obtained a Cable TV franchise...like Spotsy.

Verizon Franchise Agreement

Verizon in Virginia

Oh, here is the Franchise Agreement between Stafford and Verizon: http://www.co.stafford.va.us/Boards_and_Commissions/Cable_Committee/asset_upload_file502_10478.pdf
 
Last edited: