Verizon 100 Mbps FiOS on deck in 2009

Verizon's technology director says the company is preparing to roll out 100 Mbps service next year for its fiber network. (Ed: Santa, I want it, and my MPA NXX is 703-971).

Speaking at an industry event today, Verizon's Vincent O'Bryne said 100 Mbps will be coming next year. The company has been running trials to a small number of users for at least a year, with the driver to the switch to greater speed being new services that will "greatly increase" home bandwidth consumption, including a lot of TVs, a number of in-home DVRs and network storage devices.

Looking forward, Verizon is already considering the next step beyond the GPON technology it began rolling out last year. GPON is expected to be OK for the foreseeable future, and standards for so-called post-GPON technologies aren't expected to be standardized for a few years.

Two years ago, Verizon VP Terry Densen said "very few" customers were asking for 100 Mbps at the time, but he dismissed the call for higher speeds as more competitive marketing tactics than customer behavior. We can only hope he is biting his tongue as DOCSIS 3.0 is being rolled out.

For more:
- 100 Mbps for FiOS will be here in 2009, says Verizon. Article [1].

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