Will we ever get FiOS?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

"Verizon is still negotiating for franchises in some smaller communities, mainly in New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, but it is not working on securing franchises for any major urban areas, Wilner said. For instance, it's halted negotiations for the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Va."

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/03/26/verizon_winds_down_expensive_fios_expansion/

Comments

Will we ever get FiOS?

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

No.

Re: Will we ever get FiOS?

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

AAHAHAHAHAHA. That was my reaction!

At least Somerville can pick between Comcast and RCN-- a hundred yards away, I'm in Cambridge and I'm stuck with Comcastic service & pricing.

[bostonartist.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that the city of Somerville is blocking Verizon from offering FIOS because Verizon is not willing to contribute to SCAT and pay other fees like Comcast and RCN do as cable TV providers.

[ron_newman]

Verizon was lobbying to get a statewide license, pre-empting all local regulation, but I don't think they succeeded. Besides supporting SCAT, Verizon would also need to commit to serving the entire city of Somerville. I suspect Boston and Cambridge have similar concerns.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

If the map on dslreports is any indication, I'd say you're spot on.

Also, in response to OP, don't hold your breath on account of ron_newman's post above.

If you Google this problem you'll find there's a long (and storied) history around it. I doubt either side is going to budge until the DoJ starts levying anti-trust suits against the Verizon.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

Menino wants Verizon to roll out all of Boston "all at once" (meaning something like within a year of starting). Verizon pretty much just laughed at him.

[808.livejournal.com]

Based on the towns listed that they DO serve, my guess is that Somerville won't be on the list until it becomes rich.

[ron_newman]

They serve Malden, and I think we are on average 'richer' than they are. We are certainly more affluent than Lawrence, which they also serve.

Here's Verizon's official list of towns where they offer FIOS TV. They may also offer FOIS Internet in some towns where they don't offer TV, but I can't find that list.

tokens?

[808.livejournal.com]

Yes, of course there are the token burbs. Other people here have explained how purchasing power isn't the only variable in Verizon's decision to light a city (support from local government seems to be important). But look at the list. Despite a few poorer towns, it is clear that there is a major bias towards the rich towns. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single rich suburb not on that list. Can you?

I happen to live in Watertown. I find it interesting that neighboring towns of Waltham, Belmont and Newton are lit, yet we aren't. Watertown is quite dense with 36,000 people in 4 square miles so the market is there. However, we aren't as rich as those neighbors.

I'm not knocking Verizon for making a business decision. I'm just think its interesting food for thought, and probably a big reason why Somerville is also not on that list.

Re: tokens?

[ron_newman]

I usually think of Watertown as somewhat more affluent than Waltham, but that may not be borne out by the facts. Waltham has a lot of office buildings that Verizon can profitably sell FIOS Internet services to.

As for 'rich suburbs' not on Verizon's list, a few come to my mind: Beverly, Brookline, Carlisle, Cohasset (oops, listed as 'coming soon'), Concord, Scituate, and Sharon.

Re: tokens?

[808.livejournal.com]

As for 'rich suburbs' not on Verizon's list, a few come to my mind: Beverly, Brookline, Carlisle, Cohasset, Scituate, and Sharon.

Okay, yeah I'll give you those. I'm actually surprised to see Brookline not on the list. But do you not agree there is a correlation between wealth and FIOS on that list? I still think it's there, but not as strong as I initially advocated.

Re: tokens?

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

It almost definitely has more to do with # of households using broadband, demand for additional broadband, current offerings, and cost of implementing the service. A lot of towns make it very expensive to install cable. Being densely populated can sometimes be a detriment as well.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

from my experience of FIOS in arlington, it is definitely Not Cheap. Their "everything" package (cable/internet/phone) ran something like $130/month. Plus they require a contract for a certain number of months/years, so you're locked into it like a regular cell phone plan.

i could see where that wouldn't fly in many places. they'd do all the work to enable FIOS, then get maybe 5-10% of the population willing to pony up that kind of $$$.

Why is decent broadband so expensive in the US?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Compared to many places in Europe and Asia? Isn't the US THE center of capitalism and competition (which should lead to better prices and services)?

Re: Why is decent broadband so expensive in the US?

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

NPR had a show on this recently: http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/03/the-bandwidth-crunch

Verizon's FIOS Strategy: Quick Bucks Only, Please

[tom-champion.livejournal.com]

Look, I don't blame Verizon for making a business decision to put in FIOS only in those communities where:
- installation costs are relatively low and/or
- per capita incomes are relatively high and/or
- market demand is relatively high and/or
- Verizon already has a lot of installed fiber nodes (see "installation costs" above).
What is *infuriating*, however, is Verizon's blatant, exuberant lying about both its strategy and tactics.
For the past three years, Verizon has been telling Massachusetts consumers (including those here in Somerville)that they'd just love to spread FIOS everywhere, but that restrictive municipalities won't let them in.
Even today, when they've announced that they're slowing down FIOS expansion, they're still lying about having lied.
Here are the facts:
- Somerville is one of nearly 50 Massachusetts communities that in 2006 issued a joint invitation to Verizon to apply for a local cable license. We promised them an expedited license review and approval process. (This is the HOME of cable competition. We would LOVE to have FIOS here.) Verizon has never responded to that well-publicized letter.
- With one exception (the Town of Hull), Verizon has been able to obtain a license in every single Massachusetts community where it has actually applied. Over the past year, however, Verizon has actually begun to discontinue active negotiations: the towns are interested, but Verizon isn't. Sensibly enough, Verizon went after high-yield commmunities first; as they worked their way down the list, communities become relatively less and less attractive and, when the recession hit, a number of target municipalities simply fell off the bottom.
- In the meantime(and as Ron noted above), Verizon embarked on an aggressive lobbying campaign to replace local licensing with a one-size-fits-all, infinitely self-renewing, no-negotiation licensing process at the state level. The legislation they pushed (so far without success), would have allowed Verizon to cherry-pick only certain neighborhoods in a given community, and would have exempted them from paying the public-education-governmental (PEG) fees that other cable operators have had to pay as a matter of course. The new process would eventually apply to ALL cable operators but would give Verizon a roughly five-year window to operate with a distinct competitive advantage over their competitors. Understandably, the Mass Mayors Assoc, the Mass Municipal Assoc and cable access providers across the state have fought this tooth and nail.
Eventually, of course, technology and transmission speeds will increase across the board. Somerville will continue to pursue the broadest possible levels of innovation, choice and competition available under state and federal law.
The long-term question is whether cable companies will manipulate the legislative process at the state or national level to stifle competition -- and then blame the resulting inequities and market dislocations on too much regulation.
Sound like any other public policy debates we've been having recently?

Re: Verizon's FIOS Strategy: Quick Bucks Only, Please

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the information, Tom.

Re: Verizon's FIOS Strategy: Quick Bucks Only, Please

[ron_newman]

What happened in Hull? It is on Verizon's list of towns served by FIOS TV.

Re: Verizon's FIOS Strategy: Quick Bucks Only, Please

[tom-champion.livejournal.com]

I heard that maybe there had been a resolution in Hull, but I wasn't sure. To give Verizon the benefit of the doubt, I therefore went with the most recent info I had, which was that they were the lone holdout community. But a resolution in Hull just proves my point: Verizon was, and remains, dishonest in alleging that municipalities have erected unfair roadblocks to FIOS expansion.
But now that you've made me turn to Google rather than simply relying on my memory, here's a link that verifies that even Hull didn't exclude Verizon:
http://satellite-tv-news.com/verizon-to-deliver-fios-tv-service-in-hull-massachusetts

And now I'm going to go outside and play.

Re: Verizon's FIOS Strategy: Quick Bucks Only, Please

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

If Somerville had WiFi everywhere you could be outside while playing AND writing here! :)