Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is giving FiOS customers the option to purchase a triple play bundle with 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds for $69 a month, reflecting its recognition that consumers want higher speeds as it winds down its FTTH rollout.
For one year, customers will be able to get the FiOS Triple Play with no annual contract required. The TV service consists of two channel packs, with each additional channel pack for an additional $10 a month.
Customers can also choose between the Verizon Freedom Essentials or FioS Digital Voice bundles.
However, there are a few catches here. Besides being only good for a year, customers have to dole out a $150 set-up charge as well as paying other related fees, taxes and equipment charges.
This new offer comes at a pivotal time in Verizon's FiOS history.
While Verizon has yet to enter the 1 Gbps race, the service provider recently set 50 Mbps as its default speed tier. And overall new FiOS subscriber growth is leveling off as it reaches saturation of its existing markets.
During the fourth quarter, Verizon added just 99,000 new FiOS Internet subscribers, much lower than the 145,000 subscribers it added in the same period a year ago. It also continued to see a decline in new video subscribers as the company reported only 20,000 new FiOS video connections. Verizon ended the year with a total of 7 million FiOS Internet and 5.8 million FiOS video customers.
Fran Shammo, CFO of Verizon acknowledged that much of FiOS Internet's growth is coming from subscribers who only want Internet service as a platform for online video offerings like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Hulu and not linear TV service.
For more:
- see this blog post
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