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Verizon Bumps Top FiOS Speed to 750 Mbps

Verizon says the company will be boosting the top speed of its FiOS broadband service to 750 Mbps starting January 14. According to Verizon, the company's new "Instant Internet" tier will provide symmetrical speeds of 750 Mbps, and will cost users a promotional rate of $150 per month for standalone service, or $170 per month when bundled with TV and phone service. That's either the same or less than Verizon's existing pricing for its 300 Mbps ($170 per month) and 500 Mbps ($270 per month), suggesting the prices of those tiers could eventually drop.

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After the initial launch in greater New York City / Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia and Richmond, Fios Instant Internet will be available in portions of Boston and Norfolk later in the first quarter, says the company.

Verizon did not give a timeline for -- or guarantee -- that the ultra-fast tier will make it to the company's entire footprint. Verizon has been under fire in numerous states for effectively hanging up on Verizon FiOS expansion to instead focus on its AOL, Yahoo acquisitions and a pivot into marketing and advertising to Millennials.

"No Internet service provider has come close to offering upload and download speeds like these at such a massive scale as Fios Instant Internet," said Verizon's Ken Dixon, who apparently hopes you won't realize Verizon has been sitting on the sideline while other ISPs begin broad deployment of gigabit broadband service for less than half of what Verizon's charging for 750 Mbps.

"Ever since we decided to build the nation's largest 100 percent fiber-to-the-home network 14 years ago, we've been saying that it is a future-proof technology. The future is now here with Fios Instant Internet," he added.

If Verizon can offer 750 Mbps, it most certainly could provide residential users with 1 Gbps. Verizon's refusal to do so suggests it still doesn't think gigabit speeds are necessary. That said, several ISPs have stated that while not that many people take (or more accurately can afford) gigabit lines, the service does result in consumers calling in to see if its time for an upgrade to faster service. Broadband prices also drop overall in areas where gigabit broadband is available.

More details can be found in the full announcement here.

Most recommended from 87 comments



karpodiem
Hail to The Victors
Premium Member
join:2008-05-20
Troy, MI

1 edit

15 recommendations

karpodiem

Premium Member

"Verizon's refusal to do so"

Can't say I disagree with them. 100/100 @ $50/month (which only Google offers) is the sweet spot in 2016. Assuming you did all video delivery in IPTV with H.264 encoding (which I don't think they do, yet?), 150Mbit would be sufficient.

But at those margins, they'd be a utility. They'd rather blow billions on worthless acquisitions.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

13 recommendations

maartena

Premium Member

Why is it that...

Google charges $70 for 1 Gbps.
AT&T charges between $70 and $90 for 1 Gbps depending on market.
Most community fiber 1 Gbps goes for somewhere between $75 and $100....

....And Verizon charges $150 for 750 Mbps?

Also, it's not really an enticing offer for those who want to bundle with TV, now is it?
jm98224
join:2017-01-05
Tenafly, NJ

4 recommendations

jm98224

Member

Feds should shut this down

Verizon has failed to deploy Fios to all neighborhoods as required by their blanket franchise agreements in multiple states. The federal government should suspend this service and prohibit Verizon from charging, changing or otherwise doing anything until they complete the roll out of service they assured people they would get. Fios is one of the largest frauds sold to regulators in the history of regulators.

"Let's promise a new service to our customers but only deploy it so areas where it's convenient and then after we realize its too expensive to even do it there let's just stop deployment all together." That's the attitude they took, now its time for the feds to hit them where it hurts. I can't get FIOS because they refuse to upgrade the CO. I live in a cluster of 4 or 5 towns that can't get fios but everyone around us can. Verizon's lazyness has caused me to dump their overpriced cellular service also.

Kett2000
Premium Member
join:2002-04-23
Lilburn, GA

2 recommendations

Kett2000

Premium Member

Typos?

"will cost users a promotional rate of $150 per month for standalone service, or $170 per month when bundled with TV and phone service"

Does service cost more when bundled or should it be $170 standalone and $150 when bundled with TV and phone service?