Verizon's Fios TV website updated

[peterl1365]

Verizon Fios TV website

Nothing really new information-wise, but it shows that Verizon is spinning up its marketing campaign.

I put my phone number into the availability search engine and it came back as qualified to order. Unfortunately, when I called the number, they said it would be a while longer. The timeframe we discussed was late November/early December.

BTW, I live in Murrieta, CA, and we already have a franchise agreement in place.

 

[korsjs]

thanks for posting. i usually check this each day but got tired of doing so.

 

[korsjs]

i just checked my phone number and it says i qualify for fios tv. we do not have a franchise agreement where i live.

 

[Cyclone]

Its says I can get it too.

 

[peterl1365]

Looks like either their availability database is seriously inaccurate, or Verizon is preparing for a massive nationwide launch real soon now. At least that's my opinion. I don't think they're going to monkey around with city-by-city launches. They're going to open the floodgates and take advantage of all the free publicity they will get.

 

[peterl1365]

thanks for posting. i usually check this each day but got tired of doing so.

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

You do a great job of posting new info. Please keep it up. It's greatly appreciated.

 

[yanks2402]

Found this little tid-bit while browsing the Channel Lineup:

Sports
510-YES
511-MSG

The real interesting part about it is that those channels only show up under the "La Conexión" package page.

Good news for the people in New York and the possibility of a Regional Sports package.

 

[korsjs]

Looks like either their availability database is seriously inaccurate, or Verizon is preparing for a massive nationwide launch real soon now. At least that's my opinion. I don't think they're going to monkey around with city-by-city launches. They're going to open the floodgates and take advantage of all the free publicity they will get.

i am still going to call tomorrow to see what they say.

 

[RScottyL]

Verizon Fios TV website

Nothing really new information-wise, but it shows that Verizon is spinning up its marketing campaign.

I put my phone number into the availability search engine and it came back as qualified to order. Unfortunately, when I called the number, they said it would be a while longer. The timeframe we discussed was late November/early December.

BTW, I live in Murrieta, CA, and we already have a franchise agreement in place.

Same thing here in Irving, Texas. I enterned my phone # yesterday, and it said I qualified. I called this morning and they said it's not available yet, but gave a time frame of about later this month to early December, so we will see.

I wish they would not say you are qualified UNTIL they are ready to go live with it and you can order it. This is very frustrating for alot of impatient and excited people as myself who is waiting for the day we can order it.

 

[korsjs]

i called too. they said it was a database error.

 

[peterl1365]

You know, as much as I'd like to get Fios TV on day one, I don't see that it makes any sense for me right now. I currently have DirecTV with 3 DTivos for $55.97 per month. (Total Choice Plus w/ locals) Due to a billing error at D*, I'm not being charged a mirror fee for one of my boxes (Shhhh!!! Don't tell).

To get equivalent service from Verizon, it would be $39.99 + 3x $12.95 = $78.80 plus franchise fees, so figure approximately $83/month.

Now, granted I don't really need a DVR in every room, but it sure is nice to have, so why give it up. I don't have an HDTV set, and probably won't for another year or so, so that isn't a factor right now.

Until Verizon releases its 6-tuner media server DVR, or allows their basic STB to stream content from the HD DVR (as LonghornXP says they are planning to do), I guess I'll have to stick with D*.

For those of you planning on making the switch, best of luck.

 

[korsjs]

the six tuner dvr turned out to be a rumor.

 

[peterl1365]

the six tuner dvr turned out to be a rumor.

Are you certain about that? I was working under the assumption that it would be offered at a later date, once the hardware was available.

Perhaps LonghornXP could chime in on this.

Without the 6-tuner DVR, I don't see that I will ever sign up for Fios TV. Not when the D* HMC is available sometime next year.

 

[korsjs]

according to verizon, it was just a rumor. however, the possiblity of linking the dvrs together could remain possible. i will let longhorn explain it. he is better at the technical stuff then i am.

 

[LonghornXP]

The person I got the rumor from didn't quite understand what was being said. The six tuner solution isn't really one box. At some point in the future if you have say three DVR boxes on your account you could record six live shows that can be played back anywhere in the house.

The main part that I heard is that HD playback in other rooms is fully supported as long as that other room has either the HD box or HD DVR box. I've heard that the software would allow the recording to be scheduled on any box and the system would know how many total tuners the system had and how much space is left on each box. So you could schedule all six recordings on the same box and the system would know to record two shows on each of the three boxes.

The big advantage this will have is if you have one HD DVR and two digital boxes. You can schedule the recording on the digital box instead of having to schedule everything at the HD DVR. You can also playback all recordings on the two digital boxes as well. Now any HD recordings will be downconverted if played back on a digital box.

But simply the six tuner DVR isn't a plan at this point and because of how early all of this information was it doesn't always get passed on in accurate fashion.

 

[wlee]

Is that pricing for the setop box correct ? I have 3 setops from my current cable provider and they don't cost nearly as much as Verizon wants to charge per box. If they plan on charging 9.95/12.95 per box, it would make them substantially more expensive than cable in my case.

 

[peterl1365]

Is that pricing for the setop box correct ? I have 3 setops from my current cable provider and they don't cost nearly as much as Verizon wants to charge per box. If they plan on charging 9.95/12.95 per box, it would make them substantially more expensive than cable in my case.

I don't think it's that much more than cable. Comcast charges just $9.95 for a DVR, but their digital cable packages start at around $55. I think HD programming is $5-10 additional as well. Plus, the $3.95 Verizon basic STB is cheaper than Comcast's digital STB ($4.95 to $6.95, IIRC). Comcast also throws in a Digital Outlet Fee, which is a bogus charge for actually having a digital STB in a secondary room.

Granted, these charges are all from about 3 years ago when I had Comcast. They might have reduced those fees a little (Ha Ha. Yeah, right). All in all, the total package cost for Verizon should be significantly lower than cable.

 

[peterl1365]

Just for kicks, I went to Comcast's website to check pricing.

Digital Classic: $58.94
DVR: $ 9.99
HD Programming: $ 5.00

Total: 73.89

Add $5 for their Digital Plus package, which is really more comparable to Verizon's package, so you're looking at $78.89 FOR ONE ROOM with a HD DVR.

In Contrast, for Verizon, you would pay

Basic Expanded: $39.99
HD DVR: $12.95

Total: $52.94

You would need a lot of DVR's before that $3 differential makes up for the $25+ difference in base price.

 

[wlee]

For the cable package I have including the 3 HD non-DVR setup boxes, I pay $84.17/month.

For a similar Verizon package, I am looking at:

$39.95 for extended basic servive
$11.95 for movie channels
$14.95 for HBO
$9.95 x 3 for HD setup boxes

which comes out to $96.70/month. This number would be a bit closer if the HBO package included the movie channel package. I am perfectly happy with my cable/cable modem service. I would be making the switch based upon price point only. Verizon's 5/2 internet package is $10/month cheaper than my cable modem however. Hope I can work some sort of deal out for those setop boxes when FIOS TV is available by me.

 

[korsjs]

don't forget there will be discounts if you have other services from verizon.