Verizon to Expand Fios Fiber-Optic Network Into Boston
April 12 2016 - 4:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Ryan Knutson
Verizon Communications Inc. said it would expand its Fios
fiber-optic network into the city of Boston, one of the major gaps
in the carrier's Northeastern footprint.
Many towns surrounding Boston already have Fios, which delivers
significantly faster Internet speeds as well as television service.
Verizon first started building Fios about a decade ago and has
spent more than $23 billion connecting millions of homes in more
than a dozen states, but the carrier had been unable to agree with
the city to build its network.
Verizon's Boston deal reflects those pioneered by Google Fiber,
which builds first in areas where large numbers of people have
specifically requested service, rather than across the entire city
all at once. Verizon says it will commit more than $300 million
over the next six years to the project, which is scheduled to start
this summer. The build is intended to cover the entire city
eventually.
Meanwhile, two unions representing nearly 40,000 Verizon
employees in the Northeast are preparing to strike on Wednesday
morning. The unions have been working without a contract since
August. In addition to disputes over health care and retirement
benefits, the unions are pushing for greater job security. That
includes pressuring the company to expand Fios into new cities,
thus generating more work.
Verizon said it has no current plans to expand Fios into other
cities. The company hasn't expanded its Fios network into a new
city in several years.
Verizon said it was unsure whether the Boston project would
create new jobs at the company, but it would maintain thousands of
positions as a result.
At the end of 2015, Verizon had 7 million Fios Internet
subscribers and 5.8 million video subscribers. Earlier this month,
it closed on the sale of Fios assets in California, Texas and
Florida to Frontier Communications Corp.
Boston officials hailed the Fios deal, noting that about 90% of
the city's population has only one option for high-speed Internet,
primarily from cable giant Comcast Corp. "Boston is moving faster
than our current infrastructure can support, and a modern
fiber-optic communications platform will make us a next-level city"
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said.
Building first in areas where many people have expressed
interest has drawn concerns in the past that only wealthy areas
would get service and that low-income sections would fall behind.
To counter that, Verizon says it won't ask for a down payment or
credit card information from those who express interest in the
service. Builds will take place in zones that are economically and
demographically diverse, the city said.
Verizon said the investment will also support the company's
wireless network because the fiber optic cables would also carry
traffic from cellphone towers.
Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 12, 2016 17:09 ET (21:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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