Verizon extends FiOS to nearly 1.3M Virginia homes

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) reported that as of the end of 2013, its FiOS network service was available to almost 1.3 million homes and businesses throughout northern, central and southeastern Virginia.

Supporting its FiOS rollout was the ongoing expansion of its fiber-based backbone network. Overall, the service provider placed almost 20,000 miles in its Virginia fiber-based network.

The investment in FiOS and its fiber network are part of a broader effort it has taken to enhance its wireline network presence in Virginia, investing more than $711 million in the state throughout 2013 to extend fiber and IP-based services to residential and customers.

The service provider is continuing beyond Virginia with its fiber drive, which includes migrating what it calls "chronic" residential copper customers, or those that have had multiple repair calls, to its fiber to the home (FTTH)-based FiOS network.

In 2013, the telco converted more than 330,000 customers from copper to fiber and said it is on track to meet a similar number this year. Meanwhile, the telco has maintained that it won't extend FiOS into new markets until it has returned its cost of capital.  

While the company concentrates efforts on existing FiOS markets, it also has made strides in the enterprise market. The service provider introduced its public cloud platform Verizon Cloud. Currently in beta, Verizon Cloud offers large enterprises, mid-size companies and small development shops the economic benefits of a public cloud along with the reliability and scale of an enterprise-level service.

In addition, the service provider introduced its Converged Health Management offering, a remote patient-monitoring medical platform designed to help clinicians and patients manage patients' health in between doctor visits.

For more:
- see the release

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Updated article on March 15 to reflect that Verizon has deployed 20,000 miles of fiber throughout Virginia overall, not just in 2013.