Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) move to let Tampa, Fla. subscribers buy FiOS service without a contract shows that even if Fiber to the Home (FTTH) carries a fatter pipe into the home, some would-be subscribers are turned off by having to sign a long-term contract. Now Tampa-area FiOS customers will be able to pay the same price, month-by-month, that they would get from a two-year contract.
Month-by-month subscribers do have to pay at least $20 to $30 extra than what they would pay for a two-year bundled agreement. Tampa is the only market where Verizon is offering the same price for month-by-month billing. Last month, Verizon launched a two-year fixed pricing plan for FiOS bundles.
Competitively priced at $99.99 per month, the no-contract offering includes FiOS TV Prime HD, FiOS Internet 15/5 Mbps and FiOS Digital Voice. As Tampa's incumbent cable operator BrightHouse expands its own DOCSIS 3.0 bundled offerings, Verizon obviously realized that it not only needed another point of differentiation besides saying "this is FTTH," but that it also needed to listen to how subscribers want to pay for their service.
"Tampa is a very competitive market, and we've been told by customers either directly or in focus groups that they know our service is better but a contract has been a barrier for purchasing FiOS," Verizon spokeswoman Heather Wilner said in a CED article.
For more:
- CED has this article
Related articles:
Verizon offers long-term FiOS bundle pricing
Verizon launches quad play bundles
Windstream offers lifetime data/voice bundle