If Everyone Had Verizon FiOS For Broadband, Capping Would Not Be An Issue

For over four years now I've been a happy customer of Verizon's for their FiOS broadband service, deployed to my home. In that time, I'd be hard pressed to find any other technology product that has made as bigger of an impact on my consumption of online video. For all the talk of capping by ISPs and throttling of bandwidth, I can't help but think that none of this would be an issue if everyone had the ability to get Verizon's FiOS service. Last year I wrote that "Verizon's FiOS Service Will Change The Game For Video Delivery" and I think they already have.

Whenever discussions take place about ISPs capping users, it's always from ISPs and networks that have broadband services that were not built to truly handle video. Comcast and others never anticipated that their network would have to scale as quick as is now required or have to carry as much video as they are today. Verizon's FiOS service was built for video from day one, with a focus on pushing as many high-quality bits as possible directly over fiber.

Five years ago I had a 10MB connection and since then, Verizon has upgraded the speed to 20MB at no additional cost. I pay Verizon $95.99 a month for broadband, TV and phone combined and would never think of cutting my service. You see lots of folks talking about cutting cable and using the Internet for watching videos but I have to wonder, are any of these folks paying for TV and Internet from the same company? Because if you are, then your TV service is not $75 a month with the discount you get for multiple services. With FiOS, I think paying what averages out to be $32 per service, per month is quite fair.

I know that many folks can't get FiOS where they live so it's not an option for them today. But as Verizon continues to get more and more customers each quarter and as more competitive services like AT&T's U-verse get adopted, the whole debate of capping users should not be a big deal in a couple of years. Right now, many want to get upset over the capping that ISPs are doing but I have yet to hear one person who is complaining because they have gone over their cap. In addition, many of the ISPs have said that they will raise the caps over time as the market demand increases. I also wonder how many of those users complaining about capping can get FiOS but haven't. If they can get it but haven't, then why are they complaining about capping?

I've been writing about FiOS for a few years and still, the service amazes me. I've never had a single outage, the quality of the TV signal beats any cable company hands down and believe it or not, the support Verizon provides for FiOS is excellent. You don't get some phone company tech person on the line, you get someone from the FiOS group who knows the hardware, the service and even how it works with Mac users. It's no wonder Verizon continues to see good subscriber growth quarter after quarter.

For all the talk of how far behind the U.S. is with broadband, I think a lot of that is hype. The average broadband speed in the U.S. is 3.2Mbps. That's not slow and while it's not enough to stream HD movies to the TV, no one has a content service today that has a real business model to even support it. The problem is not the technology or the infrastructure, it's the business model. If we use the average broadband speed of 3.2Mbps, which means every content owner could encode their content for at least 2Mbps. So why aren't they? Simple, the business model does not work. Blame the business model, not the broadband infrastructure.

The bottom line is that FiOS is a product we've been waiting on for years and for many, it is here today. The service works as advertised, it's affordable, and it has no limitations. Not to mention, while I have the 20Mbps package, it's capable of up to 50Mbps if you want to spend more money or need it for a business location. For those that can't get FiOS in their area, I feel for you. But keep in mind one of the biggest hurdles Verizon has faced in their expansion is from the cable companies who have tried to do everything in their power to make it hard for Verizon; clear proof that the service really is that much better than what the cable companies offer. As Verizon continues to win more franchise licenses in more towns, FiOS will become available to a wider audience. When that time comes, get it, you won't be disappointed.

Comments

[Christopher Levy]

and yet Verizon caps all of their EVDO customers to 5gb. that includes typically email, web, or anything you pull down through their wireless modem in a month's billing period.

I am one of the very few customers left that have the grandfathered in unlimited plans. 5gb is nothing IMHO.

Dan maybe you should address this with the gang at FIOS.

[Dan Rayburn]

I don't see what one has to do with the other? Verizon's EVDO service can technically burst up to 2.4MB, or so they say but EVDO was not designed for video. FiOS was designed exactly for that.

[Joseph]

I think you're aiming to the right point. How will the internet be shaped in the era of bandwidth abundance (other than scarcity we have today), enabled by FTTH ?

There's a good post about this here http://is.gd/id97 and check out his position on net neutrality as well here http://is.gd/l0MD (make sure you read the comments, there are some by heavyweights such as odlyzko and carter).

[John Farrell]

Hmm, not sure FiOS is available in Newton, MA, but Dan's made me game to look into it. That said, at least where I am, Comcast has been very reliable. I haven't had any outages or issues with my cable modem since I signed on. But... I'm not one for downloading movies anyway, so don't mind me.

[Paul Marcum]

Yes, Fios benefits tremendously from a network built in the last decade but it's superior in other ways too. For a variety of reasons I've spent the last couple of years migrating more than your average duck and I've had the benefit of subscribing at one point or another to Comcast (LA), TWC (NY & LA), Cablevision (LI), Fios (NY), Direct TV, & WildBlue (both upstate NY). No offense to friends at the various MSOs but in terms of value, features, stability and UI, Fios wins. In fact, for a long time I had expected that the STB platforms would eventually lose to OTT/dumb pipe combos, but Fios is so good that I'm not so sure. Will be interesting to see the FB and Twitter widgets.

[hello]

Another Hard hitting Blog Entry... Did VZ give you a few free months.

[Dan Rayburn]

I don't get anything from Verizon and I've been writing about their FiOS service for over two years.

[Scott]

"Another Hard hitting Blog Entry... Did VZ give you a few free months."

But if Will Farrell or Diddy makes a two-minute video lovefest for their iPod or iPhone, nobody complains that Apple paid those guys off.

Good to know the official rule is that overexposed multi-millionaires are immune to this kind of criticism.

[Bob Hoan]

FiOS sports in High Definition SUCKS!

[Dan Rayburn]

@ Bob: Classify "sucks". The Mets games in FiOS for me are far superior quality wise than they were on Cablevision. The picture quality is much better with FiOS and even people who come over comment on how good the Mets games look.

[Kimberly Turner, Verizon FiOS]

FiOS indeed is very fast, I never had problem streaming videos…