Verizon extends free FiOS speed upgrade to small businesses

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is giving its small business customers that reside in its FiOS fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) markets a free Internet speed upgrade.

During the promotional period that ends on June 27, a small business owner who orders a new FiOS Internet and voice bundle with equal upload/download speeds of 50 Mbps will pay the price of Verizon's 25/25 Mbps service for a two-year term agreement.

The telco said that it is making this offer to its small business customers because it has forecast that the upload activity on the FiOS network will double by late 2016.

A key driver to increase the upstream direction is that small businesses will continue to adopt various Internet of Things applications like smart meters and security systems. Having a symmetrical connection also gives Verizon a near-term competitive advantage over cable operators that provide small to medium business (SMB) services due to the upstream limitations of the hybrid fiber coax (HFC) and current DOCSIS systems. 

This promotion follows its earlier move to offer SMB customers access to the symmetrical FiOS speed tiers it launched last July via its SpeedMatch program. Under that plan, SMBs can access symmetrical speeds at 25 Mbps up to 500 Mbps. A customer who today is using an asymmetrical 50/25 Mbps tier would be automatically upgraded to a 50 Mbps symmetrical tier for no additional cost.

When it introduced the SpeedMatch service for SMBs in September, the service provider increased the speeds of its six main tiers for FiOS business customers: 15/5 tier jumped to symmetrical 25 Mbps; 50/25 is now symmetrical 50 Mbps; 75/35 is now symmetrical 75 Mbps; 150/65 is now symmetrical 150 Mbps; 300/65 is now symmetrical 300 Mbps, and 500/100 is now symmetrical 500 Mbps. 

But Internet speeds are only part of Verizon's recent moves to strengthen its bond with the SMB market. Besides upping FiOS Internet tiers, the service provider is also extending its new FiOS Custom TV service to local businesses that reside in the FiOS footprint.

For more:
- see the release

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