fios
Latest
New York City sues Verizon over its fiber rollout
When New York City said it was upset with Verizon for allegedly backtracking on a promise to bring FiOS service to every household in the city, it wasn't joking around. The city has sued Verizon, accusing the telecom of failing to live up to a cable franchise agreement that required fiber to pass by all residences in the city by mid-2014. The company also didn't complete some requested installations, according to officials.
Verizon FiOS streaming no longer counts toward your data cap
Since chairman and net neutrality skeptic Ajit Pal dropped an FCC investigation into data-free "zero-rating," it's full speed ahead for carriers on unlimited video streaming. Verizon is piling on with its FiOS Mobile App, which now lets you to stream some 140+ channels, recorded DVR shows and movies on the go without impacting your wireless data cap. The new deal applies to FiOS internet and TV subscribers on Verizon's 5GB, Small, Medium and Large plans.
Verizon offers pre-paid FiOS service plans
Verizon announced on Monday that it is making its FiOS fiber-optic data, voice and television package available as a pre-paid service. That means you won't need to submit to a credit check, pay a deposit fee or even leave a credit card number to get access.
Comcast told not to claim it has 'America's fastest internet'
Comcast has agreed to stop advertising its Xfinity broadband service as "the fastest internet in America" after an ad industry group said the claim doesn't jibe with the data. The company based the slogan on user Ookla tests, which the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) said were "not a good fit" for the fastest speed claims. After Verizon (the owner of AOL, Engadget's parent) first challenged the ads back in August and won, NARB upheld the decision and recommended Comcast discontinue specific assertions.
America's fourth-largest cable co. will offer 10Gbps fiber
Altice USA may not be the most recognized ISP name out there, but the country's fourth-largest provider is about to get a big upgrade over the next five years or so. According to the company's roadmap, Altice plans to bring high-speed, 10 Gbps fiber lines directly to its 8.3 million customers starting in 2017.
Verizon will reportedly launch its next-gen TV service this year
Massive multimedia conglomerate Verizon is reportedly looking to overhaul one of its key consumer offerings. According to Variety, the company is preparing a next-generation "IP TV service," with a planned launch in one of its existing FiOS markets later this year. Details are sketchy on how exactly this new service will work, but it sounds like it'll be centered around a new set-top box. Earlier this week, Verizon filed FCC documents for a new box that would include the OnCue internet video technology that the company picked up from Intel over two years ago.
Verizon policy: switch from copper to fiber, or no fix for you
It won't shock you to hear that Verizon is not so fond of copper phone lines (just ask those left out in the cold after Hurricane Sandy), but it's now clear exactly how the carrier plans to make you ditch those old wires. The Philadelphia Inquirer has obtained documents detailing a longstanding "Fiber is the Only Fix" policy that effectively forces you to move to a fiber optic connection if you want assistance. If you ask for repairs on copper phone service in an area where fiber is available, technicians are supposed to tell you that the only remedy is to move to the newer technology. Decline, and you won't get any help -- Verizon's official stance is to refuse repairs on copper.
Verizon is adding a ton of new channels to FiOS 'Custom' TV
When Verizon launched its Custom TV offering last year, the picking were a bit slim. That's changing. The base "Essentials" package from before only offered a paltry 35 channels. That's since ballooned to 190 and includes local stations but not sports networks; for what's available in your area, check out this list. If you're a fan of los deportes you'll have to sign up for the "Sports and More" package with 160 channels for access to the likes of ESPN.
Preview premium channels for free on Verizon FiOS
Verizon announced a new perk for its FiOS customers on Monday that will allow them to preview HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, EPIX or Starz for up to 48 hours. The offer will be available on not only live TV but also for On Demand titles and through the Fios Mobile App. While you'll be able to preview each channel individually, you'll only be able to do so once a year. Still, it beats waiting for those randomly timed free preview weekends.
The teen hackers who cracked the CIA chief's email are back
"Crackas With Attitude," the hacking group that reportedly broke into CIA chief John Brennan's personal email last October (and whose contents have since been released by Wikileaks), have once again made headlines by infiltrating a number of personal accounts owned Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper's.
Verizon catches up to the pack with on-the-go DVR streaming
Heads-up, FIOS fans: Verizon (which, through a bizarre turn of events, now owns our parent company AOL) is now letting all of its FIOS subscribers stream the contents of their DVRs to their smartphones and tablets. Well, most of that content, anyway -- the company's official statement says users can stream "nearly all" of their recordings to their mobile devices, and we're trying to figure out where exactly Verizon is drawing the line.
Mayors unite to trash Verizon over slow fiber internet rollouts
New York isn't the only city getting up in Verizon's grill over the provider's reluctance to roll out FiOS across its service areas. The mayors of 13 large US cities (plus a mayoral candidate in Philadelphia) have sent a letter to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam criticizing his company's network practices, especially its lackadaisical attitude toward fiber internet access. The telecom reportedly hasn't met its obligations to offer FiOS in some cities (such as Newark and Pittsburgh), and in other cases (like Albany and Syracuse) is refusing to offer it at all. Verizon isn't just frustrating customers who want high-speed data, the mayors say -- it's reducing competition.
Verizon tests new fiber system that hits 10Gbps speeds
Verizon has announced that it has successfully completed field tests of its new super-fast fiber optic technology, dubbed the next-generation passive optical network (NG-PON2). It could offer users connectivity speeds anywhere from 10Gbps to 80Gbps some point "in the future", according to a Verizon press release. The new system utilizes an optical line terminal (OLT) capable of generating four wavelengths of light, each of which is able to transmit at an eye-watering 10Gbps down and 2.5Gbps up.
Verizon gets slapped by New York City mayor
Way back when, Verizon pledged to build fiber optic services to every home in NYC, but for some reason, it never got around to finishing it. Unfortunately, New Yorkers are used to getting what they want, and so Mayor Bill de Blasio has slammed the company saying that it needs to sort out the problem, or else. The city has delivered Big Red a very public ultimatum: Either it brings its FiOS network to "every household" in the five boroughs, or it'll face some heavy penalties.
Fox Sports and NBC come out against Verizon's custom TV plans
Not long after ESPN voiced its objection to Verizon's customizable FiOS TV packages, Fox Sports and NBC are following suit. Earlier today, both networks revealed they are also not on board with Verizon's new TV plans, which let customers pick channels based on their viewing preferences, citing a violation of contract agreements by the New York-based service provider. In a statement to Bloomberg Business, Fox Sports stated, "We reject Verizon's view that it can pursue the new packaging scheme it announced yet still comply with our agreements," while NBC claims that the Custom TV package does not meet the current programming terms between the two companies.
ESPN objects to Verizon's flexible FiOS TV plans
You may like Verizon's more flexible FiOS TV packages, but ESPN sure doesn't. The Disney-owned sports network claims that these offerings break contracts which prevent carriers from putting ESPN and ESPN2 into a separate sports package -- typically, they have to be included with other Disney channels. The company isn't directly accusing Verizon of going rogue, but a Recode source claims that the telecom didn't ask for permission. While Verizon tells the Wall Street Journal that it crafted the packages to avoid trouble, the insider says that the provider believed its existing deals would let it test these smaller bundles without a conflict. Clearly, ESPN would beg to differ.
Verizon's new 'Custom' FiOS TV plans are a little more flexible
Every time we talk about a new TV service, from Sling TV to PlayStation Vue to whatever Apple might be working on, there's inevitably disappointment when it's lacking a la carte channel selection. That's still the case for the new FiOS Custom TV packages Verizon tells us it will start offering on Sunday, but they do give customers a little more choice on what channels to pay for, or leave out. The way it works, is there's a 35-channel base package (CNN, AMC, HGTV, locals networks, etc.) combined with internet service. For $65, customers get that, plus any two add-on channel packages. The add-on packs are bundled by genre in a manner similar to Sling TV, with Sports (where ESPN lives), News & Info, Pop Culture, Entertainment, Kids, Lifestyle, and Sports Plus (regional sports networks, NFL Network and so on).
Verizon FiOS will be an East Coast exclusive as of 2016
If you're a customer of Verizon's TV, internet or phone services (fiber or otherwise) in California, Florida or Texas then sometime next year you won't be. That's because as part of a $10.54 billion deal, it's selling "wireline" businesses in those states to Frontier so it can focus on a group of Eastern states. It made a similar move dumping services across many states in 2009, and many of the customers we heard from afterward were not happy because while Frontier had different policies on how to run the service. In a separate deal, it's leasing or selling a majority of the cell towers it operates to American Tower Corporation for $5 billion. Why make all these moves? Other than kicking off a $5 billion share repurchasing program, word is this money will go to pay for some $10 billion in wireless spectrum Verizon won at auction last week.
Verizon thinks that the prepaid phone market is dead, and that's okay
If your response to the question "How much money did Verizon make in the last quarter" was "$3.79 billion in net profit," then congratulations. Big Red can afford to feel quite smug about its performance in the last three months, finding 1.53 million new wireless customers, of which 1.52 million took up monthly contracts. The tiny sliver of prepaid users has led the company to believe that the pay-as-you-go market is beginning to shrink as people move to monthly deals. Verizon is also happy to announce that it flogged 1.1 million LTE-equipped tablets this quarter, only a slight dip on the 1.15 million sold last time 'round. It's something that the company is happy to encourage, since people are likely to keep hold of their tablets for longer and are much cheaper to subsidize than comparable smartphones.
Verizon's new FiOS deal will let you watch Comedy Central away from home
Verizon is about to make it much easier to catch The Daily Show when you can't reach your TV on time. As part of a renewed carriage deal, Big Red will let you watch all of Viacom's live channels (including Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon) through the FiOS Mobile app when you're away from home. You'll also have access to all of Viacom's authenticated TV Everywhere services, so you'll get to stream on-demand shows through a wide array of apps and devices. There's more on the way, too. Verizon says the renewal will let it offer a mysterious bundle of "marquee content" nationwide to its wireless customers -- even if they don't have FiOS -- and it expects to roll out "innovative new TV packages" that better match viewers' tastes. We doubt the channel bundle will disappear entirely any time soon but we'd welcome more choices and, hopefully, lower prices. [Image credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster]
