JPLPremium
join:2007-04-04
Downingtown, PA
kudos:1 | reply to tmc8080
Re: 40% of their footprint said by tmc8080:said by birdfeedr:From the link to their 4th quarter earnings report: quote:
By the end of 2008, Verizon's FiOS fiber-to-the-premises network passed 12.7 million premises throughout the company's wireline service territory -- greater than the company's target of 12 million by year-end 2008. Fiber-to-the-home now passes approximately 40 percent of the total households in Verizon's landline footprint.
This took about 5 years and almost 20 billion dollars, so that means total network overlay should be competed in another 8-10 years and be another 20-25 billion because Verizon left much of the hardest to upgrade lines for last. Though, I'm happy that more and more Comcast subscribers who have Verizon in their backyard laugh at their 250gb data cap and throttled docsis 3 modem offerings. I'm sorry but this just doesn't make sense. Why would you think that the last miles of fiber are any more difficult than the first miles? Verizon is still working on franchise agreements - the one they just got authorized in Philly will allow them to finally move into the city. Doesn't mean that Philly is any 'harder' to roll into than the surrounding suburbs.
Also, you can't just do a straight computation of cost like that. Production costs drop over time. The cost of fiber has dropped considerably over the last couple years. Implementation processes improve over time too - they're alot more proficient at installing service today than they were 2 - 3 years ago. Ditto for finding/rectifying problems, which will also help drive down cost.
Finally, much of the money already spent is on infrastructure type stuff - VHOs and COs and the like. Expanding through existing areas is MUCH cheaper than starting up a brand-new area. Much of the costs for projects like this are front-loaded. Growth over time becomes cheaper. And as their footprint grows, Verizon's bargaining power with TV channel providers will grow as well, giving them better leverage to negotiate better rates for things like TV channels, also driving down price. High tech product costs drop very quickly overall. That HD TV that I bought 20 months ago was $300 more expensive than the equivalent current model today. |
