Verizon enhances its Massachusetts DSL footprint

Verizon may be the loudest proponent of Fiber to the Premises (FTTP), but its recent drive to expand DSL service throughout Western and Southern Massachusetts proves that the company is not completely turning its back on copper-based DSL service. To expand DSL availability into 16 new communities, the ILEC has installed testing equipment and data circuits in additional neighborhoods.

Included in this latest DSL drive are Adams, Athol, Barre, East Longmeadow, Falmouth, Hampden, Holyoke, Ludlow, North Brookfield, Provincetown, Quincy, Rutland, Shelburne Falls, Southbridge, Sturbridge and Wellfleet. This spring, Verizon says it will add Roxbury as the 17th community, bringing it to 17,000 new lines. Verizon will allow customers to bundle their DSL services in either a triple or a double play bundle with speeds that range from 3 to 7 Mbps and various pricing tiers that range from $40.00 to $79.99 a month.

There are two realities that are dictating Verizon's continued expansion of DSL and an array of bundle incentives. While Verizon has placed a big bet on FTTP, the reality is that in the near-term it can't get to every community. That means it will need to continue to develop incentives to at least hold at bay the cable companies who are aggressively upgrading their existing DOCSIS networks to support 50 and even 100 Mbps capabilities through their migration to DOCSIS 3.0.

For more:
- see the release here [1]

Related articles
Verizon offers free promotion to slow DSL defection
[2]Verizon Q3 '09: FiOS leads the wireline way [3]
Verizon goes for the 'quad play' jugular [4]
Verizon to slow DSL defection with NFL Sunday Ticket
[5]Verizon adds Turner Networks and Sony to FiOS VOD lineup [6] [2]