Verizon Fiber TV Service:

[LonghornXP]

I've been asking around with as many people as I know and I'll tell you what I know so far. Now be aware I have nothing to gain by giving this information because I currently have fiber in my area and am enjoying FIOS internet service and awaiting TV service.

The plan is too have all of the Tampa Bay area to pretty much have fiber by the end of 2006 with most or all of Pinellas County having fiber by early 2006.

Now they are planning to offer TV service most likely using a technology called IPTV. Their goal is to promote their bundle offerings of TV, HSI and phone service.

So onto their TV plans. They will offer a 100% digital lineup to start. Every room in the house will require a set-top box but those will be cheap because they would all have a chip that is able to just decode upto HD resolution and beyond this they will just be IP boxes pretty much. Now those boxes won't tune in OTA channels whether they be SD and/or HD and they won't accept cable signals either. These boxes can only be used for Verizon TV Service. These boxes are expected to cost the customer around 40-50 bucks upfront and final price. I'm being told they won't be charging extra room fees like say satellite does with a mirroring fee. All you will pay is the upfront cost and the programming cost and tax. No extra room fees at all.

Now I'm told that for customers who say have more than 3 rooms who can't afford the boxes upfront they would be willing to rent them until you pay what they cost. Say you get 4 boxes for a total of 160 bucks you could just pay 6.95/month per box like you do with BHN and when you reach 160 bucks in those fees they would stop charging you and you would own them from that point. They said they most likely would require a credit card so if you cancel you will get charged the remaining amount.

Now again all this above are the plans and I was told to tell you those plans can change depending on cost and other factors not known today.

Also these boxes will have a special type of port that would allow a customer who wants a DVR to pay for this external drive that they would plug into this port and it would work just like an all-in-one type box. I'm being told that the advantage of this IP based video system is you can record as many shows as can be copied onto the drive based on the drives write speed. With that said they plan to allow a customer with one hard drive plugged into one box to record upto 4 live shows at the sametime whether they be in HDTV or SDTV. That gets very interesting to say the least. Also multiroom viewing can be done from the start because all boxes will pretty much be an IP network and will stream shows from box to box just as it would stream video from your computer wirelessly to your laptop. But because it will use coax cables it will work much better than wireless and better than even cat5.

Now I heard something very interesting and it threw me off guard for a second. I was told that to compete and steal customers from both cable and satellite they are willing to if needed to pay more to get say NBC HD or Starz HD. They feel to steal customers they have to offer every single HD channel out there and most important they have to carry the ones that BHN and Knology don't carry. Their bills will be cheaper than cable and satellite but they feel they are better off being only 10 bucks a month cheaper for their very highend customers and offering them everything out there that their current provider doesn't carry. They know customers need a big discount in price to make all the switches including tearing out their house wiring and such but they are betting that highend customers will go through all this trouble to get what they can't get and want instead a big discounted bill. Basically they don't want to compete on price by going so much lower but instead being close in price to the cable and sat companies but offering a shit load more of what the customers actually want.

[Whitey]

Longhorn,

Could you find out a timeline for Manatee County.

Thanks for the great information.

David

[tampatom]

Longhorn,

Why would people need to tear out all the old wiring? The video plugs into the standard RG6 connector of the ONT. When they installed my system, they showed me that the rg6 cable, that was going to the Brighthouse cable connection box, at that time, would just be moved from the Brighhouse box to the Verizon box when video was available from Verizon, and I ordered it.

[goalie99]

<- also very interested in a Manatee timeline.

GREAT info. sounds promising, assuming all goes well with the IP implementation. built in multi room sounds nice.

I like the "They feel to steal customers they have to offer every single HD channel out there and most important they have to carry the ones that BHN and Knology don't carry. " line VERY much. Even if its some time before I get fiber in my area, at least maybe the knowledge a service like this is on its way will push BHN to start pushing more HD content.

[LonghornXP]

Longhorn,

Could you find out a timeline for Manatee County.

Thanks for the great information.

David

No later than 2007 if things go well. Just be aware that for some of you won't see fiber for a good 2 plus years while some might not get fiber at all depending on where you live. If your the only house within miles of the next don't expect fiber anytime soon if at all. Now sometime in 2005 all counties within the Tampa Bay Area will be worked on at the same time but the holdup in most areas which includes Pinellas County has been union activity. Right now the local union in Pinellas County has just pushed through a new three year contract and the holdup was because the union was concerned that for one they would do great for the next five years but after that they are concerned about what Verizon will do because fiber is very cheap to maintain and doesn't require as much repairs and as a result they would only need anywhere between 10% and 40% of the current union workforce after the changeover to fiber. Now most of these union workers are old enough now that by the time this all hits the fan most will be very close to retirement and this shouldn't be an issue but they wanted a much clearer picture of what their retirement will look like before they started this work in Pinellas and other counties.

[goalie99]

All I have seen so far are home (house) installs...will apartments be SOL?

[LonghornXP]

Longhorn,

Why would people need to tear out all the old wiring? The video plugs into the standard RG6 connector of the ONT. When they installed my system, they showed me that the rg6 cable, that was going to the Brighthouse cable connection box, at that time, would just be moved from the Brighhouse box to the Verizon box when video was available from Verizon, and I ordered it.

The coax wiring would not be torn out but all of your phone wiring would be torn out and replaced with if I'm not mistaken cat5 ethernet cabling. To put this in simple terms the installation process is longer and much more detailed than a satellite installation. Now in your case if you have fiber right now that is correct about what they told you but if you don't have fiber now they would have to install it as they would if you just wanted FIOS internet service and after that do what they told you and just hookup the BHN rg6 cables into the ONT and just provide the Verizon TV box.

[LonghornXP]

<- also very interested in a Manatee timeline.

GREAT info. sounds promising, assuming all goes well with the IP implementation. built in multi room sounds nice.

I like the "They feel to steal customers they have to offer every single HD channel out there and most important they have to carry the ones that BHN and Knology don't carry. " line VERY much. Even if its some time before I get fiber in my area, at least maybe the knowledge a service like this is on its way will push BHN to start pushing more HD content.

They feel the same way about VOD as well. They feel they are better off keeping the price closer to BHN prices which would be around 10 bucks a month cheaper than BHN but with one key difference. If they do this they have to first match BHN offerings and go above and beyond that. They believe that customers will be fine switching for less of a discount if they get much more of what they want. For example one of their goals stems with VOD and they plan to match BHN offerings with Premiums On Demand by offering what BHN has "AND" offering Starz On Demand along with it. They also plan to push HD VOD on the PPV side but I'm also hearing about Verizon working behind the scenes with Starz to offer Starz On Demand customers another section that other companies won't have which will be called HDTV Movies. That means Verizon is looking to have Starz Provide them with HD movie transfers to offer in their Starz On Demand offering.

That means we might soon have the chance to watch Starz movies in HDTV and 5.1 sound all on Demand.

[LonghornXP]

All I have seen so far are home (house) installs...will apartments be SOL?

They are planning to do apartments but the apartment complex would have to allow Verizon to change out the wiring in each apartment but hopefully that won't be a problem because Verizon will be paying for that so an apartment complex could allow this to be done at no cost to them or their renters but will allow their complex to have an edge by saying their renters can get FIOS internet service and TV service. I think Verizon is also working with apartment companies to be the sole provider of TV service and internet to those renters but the renters are requireing that Verizon sign a contract that states that the rates they charge customers always have to be at least 10% lower than the current alternatives to avoid ripping off their renters.

[LonghornXP]

Just got a message that Progress Energy is looking into entering into the TV service and internet business. Nothing is known at this point in time but it could get very interesting if Progress Energy gets involved. Just think about this for a second. Within three years we customers in most of Pinellas County could have a choice of TV and internet service from Progress Energy, BHN, Verizon, Knology, DirecTV, Dish Network and Voom is they are still alive in three years. I think right now BHN has to be sweating just a little bit. I don't think they want to compete with both Verizon and Progress Energy.

[djkilla]

I was going to wait but since others are asking, is there a time frame for Temple Terrace, specifically 56th and Busch? Thank you all knowing wise one! :)

-D j K i l l a-

[LonghornXP]

I was going to wait but since others are asking, is there a time frame for Temple Terrace, specifically 56th and Busch? Thank you all knowing wise one! :)

-D j K i l l a-

I'm hearing that most of Temple Terrace should be done by mid year and Verizon is currently in talks with the Temple Terrance City Council about TV service.

Also I've got some extra info about TV service for Hillsborough County and the plans are too have the same lineup in other areas but Verizon has to talk and be approved by each areas city council before they can offer TV service.

That new info is the following below.

They will offer between 300-350 digital channels. plus around 45 music channels. Now the 300-350 channels won't include the 45 music choice channels but they will include every other channels such as SD locals, premium channels and their on demand counterparts. Also in addition to that they will offer anywhere between 20-30 HDTV channels. Now if they offer 20 lets see how this breaks down.

PBS, NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, WB and UPN for 7 HD channels.

Now add HDNet x2, InHD x2, ESPN HD 1&2, Universal HD, Discovery HD and TNT HD for a total of 9 Hd channels.

Now add premium HD channels.
HBOx2, CIN x2, SHO x2, Starz x2, Encore and TMC for a total of 10 channels.

So if we add them together we get a total of 26 total HD channels. Now if they only carry the east feeds of the premiums that would bring that total down to 22 HD channels. Now if they offer at least 20 HD channels and I was told it would be at least 20 but somewhere between 20 and 30 HD channels that range would cover everything out there today plus a few more that come later.

[djkilla]

Woooo hoooo! Thanks LonghornXP! You've made my day! This is actually extremely good news and I'm shocked at the aggressive stance Verizon is taking to go gead to head providing lots more than BHN could ever provide *without all the red-tape*. The only thing that's left is too see how their rates pan-out. Thanks again for the great exciting info!

-D j K i l l a-

[LonghornXP]

Woooo hoooo! Thanks LonghornXP! You've made my day! This is actually extremely good news and I'm shocked at the aggressive stance Verizon is taking to go gead to head providing lots more than BHN could ever provide *without all the red-tape*. The only thing that's left is too see how their rates pan-out. Thanks again for the great exciting info!

-D j K i l l a-

I've been told that their rates will be cheaper without question but how much cheaper is another question but I'm being told to expect much more than your getting with BHN at the time you signup and expect your bill to be at least 10 bucks a month cheaper than BHN. If BHN drops their prices they will always at least match it or beat it.

[LonghornXP]

Also I've been told that Verizon will if forced use legal action with InHD. If InDemand doesn't offer Verizon a similiar deal to what BHN has they will use legal action to get a similiar deal. That is some very good news I might say.

[bdraw]

I have heard that Voom has already questioned INHD, and might take them to court to get the channel.

Thanks for all the information.

Do you happen to know if Fios is availible in Ybor City. Right now I live in an aparment complex(The ones that burned down) but will be moving soon to a condo on 5th ave and 20th st. It is only a 3 story building, with 37 units, and there isn't any phone wiring yet. The Develooper simply ran conduit with a pull string to each unit from outside, so the phone company could come in later and install the phone lines. I hope this helps me get fios.

[LonghornXP]

I have heard that Voom has already questioned INHD, and might take them to court to get the channel.

Thanks for all the information.

Do you happen to know if Fios is availible in Ybor City. Right now I live in an aparment complex(The ones that burned down) but will be moving soon to a condo on 5th ave and 20th st. It is only a 3 story building, with 37 units, and there isn't any phone wiring yet. The Develooper simply ran conduit with a pull string to each unit from outside, so the phone company could come in later and install the phone lines. I hope this helps me get fios.

I've been told the following below. If your new place has the local CO setup for fiber any new wiring will include fiber installs but right now from what I've been told and I don't know how true this is but I've been told that getting fiber means running cat5 cables and cat5 cables won't work with current phone service. So if they wire your new place with fiber (ie cat5 cables) and your local central office isn't ready for fiber you won't be getting phone service anytime soon until the CO gets fiber installed.

Now my contacts can only give me general timeframes for areas which is pretty much counties and cities but everytime I ask about a certain street they keep telling me the whole area will get done by this time but what areas get done first depends greatly and isn't outlined upfront but is decided afterwords. What I mean by that is they decide about one area and after they complete that area they choose another area but they don't plan what other areas they will do until they are ready to do them.

[bdraw]

I would think that Ybor would be low on their list considering most people that live there, don't have the money to pay big bucks for Internet. As more and more new developments are completed, that will change. There are 6 active condo projects at multiple phases south of 7th now, and the cheapest one is about $180 per sq/ft. But since most of that place is paved, I assume it costs more than digging up someones yard to lay fiber. On the other hand I am really close to the CO, which is on the corner of 8th ave and 17th ST.

Thanks for the information.

[dprice]

...I don't know how true this is but I've been told that getting fiber means running cat5 cables and cat5 cables won't work with current phone service.

I wired my house with CAT5 cable and the standard phone service is quite happy with it. New construction may use CAT5 because it relatively cheap and can be called an "upgrade".

Don

[mgd2win]

Longhorn

Any idea when they are going to light up the Westchase fiber ?

Its been pulled and I saw the splicers out here working but that was before the holidays, nothing since.

Dan

[LonghornXP]

...I don't know how true this is but I've been told that getting fiber means running cat5 cables and cat5 cables won't work with current phone service.

I wired my house with CAT5 cable and the standard phone service is quite happy with it. New construction may use CAT5 because it relatively cheap and can be called an "upgrade".

Don

I found out the specifics about this issue. I've been told that if you have fiber installed inside your house by Verizon you will acutally be getting VOIP service which will give you upgraded services without charging your more money but if your power goes out for long enough you won't have phone service. Now they will leave a copper line inside if you want if asked for no extra charge but that line would only include basic service because you would be getting discounted VOIP service. Now I'm also told that if you don't use a copper line but only a VOIP line all you have to worry about is losing power for longer than 5 hours straight. I've been told that even suing the VOIP option if your internet goes down your phone service even VOIP will still work because they would be sent over the same frequencies they are now just over cat5 instead of copper.

Hope this might clear some things up.

[LonghornXP]

Longhorn

Any idea when they are going to light up the Westchase fiber ?

Its been pulled and I saw the splicers out here working but that was before the holidays, nothing since.

Dan

Again I'm sorry to say that I've never been told specifics on anything like this. For future reference I'm not being told what areas are being done when or next and that includes all aspects of fiber installation from the start all the way upto the activation process. All I've been told are the general plans and the county timeframes which could change for better or worse and I have nothing more specific but just the county name. I wish I could answer that because it I was waiting for that switch to be hit I would be ancy but I would rather say I don't know than get your homes up and assume its very close because of whats been done around your area so far and I'm still taking your word on whats been done so far.

Sorry I couldn't provide you with the answer you have been waiting for.

[Kendo]

I live in a newer community located in S.W. Pasco county and Verizon is in the process of laying fiber in my sub-division. I'm happy that Pinellas and Hillsborough aren't the only areas that will benefit from this. We've needed competition up here for a long time.

All digital, more HD channels, faster internet... I can't wait ! Bye Bye Brighthouse.

[LonghornXP]

All counties within the Tampa Bay Area will be getting fiber just some later than others. Also remember that if at a later date Pinellas gets wired up and lets say that Tampa is getting TV service from Verizon you still have to wait for your city council to approve Verizon to offer TV service. In this case just because Tampa is approved doesn't mean Pinellas County is part of that.

[goalie99]

I came across this today-

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/jan05/01-28VerizonFiOSServicePR.asp

[aphex]

Does anyone know what the fiber itself looks like?

I ask because this past week, a slew of trucks came down the street in front of my complex (Honore Ave. in University Park/Bradenton) and dug a 3-4' deep trench... They laid what appeared to be a 4-6" thick cable, covered it up and marked it off w/ Bright Orange Tape with Crossed Out Phone pictures on the side...

Could it be fiber?

[jaymer]

they put a 4-6 inch conduit under ground, then run a 1-inch fiber cable, which contains 12 buffer tubes, each of which contain 12 fibers.
at various places along the street (in the easement between the sidewalk and the street) they install a tap which peels off a number of fibers that are installed into a port device. when the underground feed gets run to your house, they just tap into that port.
i have pics of this happening in front of my house - just haven't posted them yet.
jaymer...

[aphex]

they put a 4-6 inch conduit under ground, then run a 1-inch fiber cable, which contains 12 buffer tubes, each of which contain 12 fibers.
at various places along the street (in the easement between the sidewalk and the street) they install a tap which peels off a number of fibers that are installed into a port device. when the underground feed gets run to your house, they just tap into that port.
i have pics of this happening in front of my house - just haven't posted them yet.
jaymer...

So is there a good chance that im seeing the beginning stages of fiber in my area?

[millerman101]

just curious, what if verizons box goes bad in your house and you have finished paying for your box, say whatever it is $160.. Do you get a new one free or do you have to start paying for a new one again? This sounds a little weird...

[TheBeak]

40-60 per box. and if we own it, we replace it id guess...

where you at in trinity? im in thousand oaks and am thinking this deal might be the thing that pulls me off my 10+year BHN subscription..

[TheBeak]

I live in a newer community located in S.W. Pasco county and Verizon is in the process of laying fiber in my sub-division. I'm happy that Pinellas and Hillsborough aren't the only areas that will benefit from this. We've needed competition up here for a long time.

All digital, more HD channels, faster internet... I can't wait ! Bye Bye Brighthouse.

where in trinity did you see this....

do they leave R2D2 boxes in the yard to hook up too? (read: can i walk out in the yard and check for FIOS?)

[StevenA]

My Verizon telephone bill arrived today with an insert to purchase DirectTV service. It seems strange for Verizon to be advertising DirecTV if they are planning to offer their own fiber optic cable service soon.

[mgd2win]

They are not starting thier own cable company but are going to provide D* over fiber as a partner. SBC is doing a similar thing out west and had over 200,000 people sign up in a few months time frame.

As a D* subscriber for 7 years I hope they use larger antennas at thier ant farms to recieve the signal as this will all but eliminate the one complaint people have about sat service is the rain fade.

From a technical standpoint it is actually very easy for Verizon to recieve the D* and transport over the fiber so it really is a no brainer for them to team up and it helps both companies biz models

[CANDY76MAN]

They are not starting thier own cable company but are going to provide D* over fiber as a partner. SBC is doing a similar thing out west and had over 200,000 people sign up in a few months time frame.

As a D* subscriber for 7 years I hope they use larger antennas at thier ant farms to recieve the signal as this will all but eliminate the one complaint people have about sat service is the rain fade.

From a technical standpoint it is actually very easy for Verizon to recieve the D* and transport over the fiber so it really is a no brainer for them to team up and it helps both companies biz models

yeah, thats what a verizon guy told me they were going to do too....I wonder if the same recievers will still work?...I assume verizon will just pass all the directv programming through the fiber and then the cards will still be programmed by directv to determine what channels you can get and what not??

[bubblehd647]

They are not starting thier own cable company but are going to provide D* over fiber as a partner. SBC is doing a similar thing out west and had over 200,000 people sign up in a few months time frame.

As a D* subscriber for 7 years I hope they use larger antennas at thier ant farms to recieve the signal as this will all but eliminate the one complaint people have about sat service is the rain fade.

From a technical standpoint it is actually very easy for Verizon to recieve the D* and transport over the fiber so it really is a no brainer for them to team up and it helps both companies biz models
I'm not sure that is the case. If it were we wouldn't have 24 6 meter dishes being installed in the back parking lot. Also, from what I have read (publically released) we are going to send the signal as multicast IP. The set-top box is a Microsoft IPTV unit, not D*.

[mgd2win]

Bubble thats interesting about the ant farm....can you post or email me a pic of the site...curious now

[bubblehd647]

I'll see what I can do.

[Eich]

All I have seen so far are home (house) installs...will apartments be SOL?

They are planning to do apartments but the apartment complex would have to allow Verizon to change out the wiring in each apartment but hopefully that won't be a problem because Verizon will be paying for that so an apartment complex could allow this to be done at no cost to them or their renters but will allow their complex to have an edge by saying their renters can get FIOS internet service and TV service. I think Verizon is also working with apartment companies to be the sole provider of TV service and internet to those renters but the renters are requireing that Verizon sign a contract that states that the rates they charge customers always have to be at least 10% lower than the current alternatives to avoid ripping off their renters.

This morning, I called Verizon (888-GET-FIOS) to see if it was available in my area. When I told the CSR that I live in an apartment, he told me that they weren't planning on apartments to have fiber at this time and that it was on the "back burner". This lead me to believe that apartment complexes were going to be last on the list to get FIOS. Can anyone confirm this?

[Harry]

As I drove home today, I saw all the Verizon contractors out there working on fiber in my area. I started to wonder. How long do they plan to maintain two networks (one fiber, one copper) and what will they do about the last folks on copper. They can't possibly want to maintain both networks for any length of time, that would be expensive and since you only have part of your customers on each network, very expensive by user. I wonder what their end game plan is?

Harry