Just saw an ad from TWC with special pricing for FIOS subs.

The deal was primarily waiving front end costs.

Sounded like they were geting return customers looking for better service.

Too bad VZ is ruining FIOS to add high end customers.

I could go for that we don't even have analog coverage at my parents house.  And they do live 10 miles outside a small village (1200 people in town) but are only about 1 hour north of Albany.  I can't imagine what coverage is like in really rural spots up there.

seven

@OldPOTS

It would be a shame if Verizon went through all that trouble to provdie a superior network and then screwed it up by data caps. Once again a short-sighted business plan clobbers a great tech leap forward.

Hi, seven -- In your upstate flood scenario, VZ would probably push for wireless substitution as a way to avoid a copper rebuild or a fiber buildout. Of course, wireless coverage in rural areas would need to be upgraded for that, even if regulators decide this is a good idea. And as we found with Sandy, mobile networks even in built-out areas did a poor job when voice traffic volumes spiked.

Dennis,

I did not read this as I will get out of COLR.  What I know about Verizon is that they don't want to build new copper, which is essentially what would have to happen.  You can get just phone service from FiOS and it costs the same as regular phone service.  OldPOTS will point out that there are potential differences in QOS and Powering, but essentially it is the same service.

What they DO get out of is the requirement to support UNE-L.  Given that they have no Pronto type requirements, that could mean that some customers would lose their ability to get DSL from Earthlink (or similar ISPs).  In the grand scheme of the universe, I don't consider that a huge issue.

Now, the real question will come if say a big flood hit upstate NY and wiped out a lot of copper there.  What would Verizon do?  They have said point blank that they don't want to put FiOS in rural areas and they have said they want to lay no new copper.

seven

@MendyK

I would certainly agree with your point about readiness and willingness to support the, dare I call it an upgrade?

Much also depends on whether or not we are referring to all outside plant copper or only local loops.

The "why" is more about how it's being done, and the not-so-subtle push to gain exemption from the requirement to provide wireline service to all households. I don't think operators are ready or willing at this point to match their existing copper footprint with fiber.

@MendyK You seem to suggest that the extinction of Copper is a bad thing? Just curious why?

Also I would be extremely surprised if this was not also the case for AT&T and Centurylink, if only from the Maintence costs alone.

Much of the Midwest experiences service disruptions with an even moderate rainfall.

Right -- For the self-powering to be a positive factor, the power outage has to be localized rather than system-wide. And as we found with Floyd in 1999, nothing can prevent a meltdown if your telco decides to house its switches in the basement of a building that's in a flood zone. And no doubt it costs more to operate two distribution networks instead of one. But right now, choosing between FiOS and cable is a toss-up -- something I didn't think would have been possible not too long ago.

mendyk-

While the FTTH fiber (FIOS) is very reliable. The scheme/protocal VZ implimented for network controls and their impimentation of DPI slow down (CAPS) has caused great sub constination.

Several neighbors have dropped FIOS for the cable alternative because of these restrictions. and prefer it. I am about ready to switch if these problems continue. Even though I figured out how to beat their extreme DPI slow down, it is still an anoyance.

I have a more expensive copper phone line with old style phone by our bed that is separate from FIOS, as do most of my neighbors. We have seen the phone service continuing for days after Katrena, even though Bell South denied it as they couldn't communicate with their own switches. Guess why. - backup to what?

OldPOTS