FIOS- does anyone have it?

[samhass]

I'm having Fios run down my (Pa) driveway on the 22nd and hooked up in the house for phone/internet/tv. Does anyone currently have it? Is it fabulous?
My driveway is over 1/4 mile long and the terrain is diabase rock and huge trees. This will be a major job. I'm hoping that making the place FIOS ready will increase it's value. I'm only signing this place up for the 5 mg service since I'm rarely here. I have 768k right now, so this should be a vast improvement. 30mg is available. I love technology.

[SteveFromNY]

I have FIOS at my house in NY. It is blazingly fast. I was amazed when I first got it that I could click on videos and not wait for "buffering" more than a second before I could watch. I have the 20 MB service, and had upgraded from cable which they claimed was 1.5 MB, so FIOS was 12 or 13 times faster. Is there much of a cost difference between the 5 & 20 MB package?
We don't get the television here yet (cable company lobby has delayed it) but I have friends who have it and they are very happy with the quality.

[samhass]

It will run about $80.00 per month for internet and unlimited long distance. No video included in this price. It will be nice for the times I'm back up here in Pa. I may get rid of dishnet up here in time. I don't guess this is available in TV.

[Don H]

I have FIOS to my home on Long Island. No...we haven't moved to TV yet. Soon..soon. Anyway it's great service but I'm biased since I work in network operations for Verizon in Manhattan. Unfortunately, TV will not be getting FIOS from Verizon anytime soon. Verizon's footprint only covers the six counties in and around Tampa. I'm talking about the landline operation here...not the wireless side which is pretty much everywhere. I can't imagine VZ expanded further out into Florida than their current area. But what do I know, I'm not privy to strategic expansion plans. All I can tell you is that comcast, embarq and all of those other players couldn't even come close to FIOS service. It's definitely something I will miss when we move to TV.

[Shirleevee]

We live on Staten Island and have Fios..........IT'S GREAT!

Recently bought a home in TV, purchased a computer and have Comcast . At first, we experienced a few glitches. I chose to use Aol and have not had any real problems since. Comcast seems to be just as fast as FIOS, and any problem we had in the beginning was addressed promptly.

Phyllis

[renielarson]

What in the :edit: is FIOS? Never heard of it.

[DickY]

FIOS is Verizon broadband connection via fiber optics to internet, phone and TV. They have been aggressively installing fiber cable to homes and apartments in their prime areas of operation.

[renielarson]

Thank you DickY....will check on it in my area

[REDCART]

Phyllis, There's a serious difference between FIOS which brings fiber optic cable to the home and Comcast in TV. FIOS doesn't suffer any degradation when the network is full and generally delivers downloads at speeds of 20,000 KBPS. By comparison, Comcast in TV has different plans but their best plan maxes out at around 5,000 KBPS download which is adequate for email and surfing TOTV but less than they should be offering in the year 2008 for the same price as FIOS. Competion in cable offerings would be a good thing in TV. It's a shame that the developers settled for Comcast. George

[Mintjulep]

Competion in cable offerings would be a good thing in TV. It's a shame that the developers settled for Comcast. George



When we had our Comcast installed at TV, I mentioned to our installer it would be nice to have a choice. He told me that Comcast paid the developer 7 million $ for exclusive cable provider rights. I wish I had asked if there was a time limit on those rights.

[golfnut]

AT&T's new service is called U-verse and is fibre optic, does anyone have Uverse?

[samhass]

Uverse, Fios, whatever. TV is so ahead of the curve on most things. Wouldn't you think that in this day of telecommunication importance, we would have the best??? We're a pretty savvy bunch in terms of tech. I'm surprised Embarq hasn't jumped into the fray. Although Comcast has a mortal lock on cable in TV, I believe there are laws in place forbidding lack of competition in this venue. That's one of the reasons Dish and DTV are allowed. In defense of our Developer, these are relatively new technologies. I believe he will do what it takes to make TV the premier retirement community. Hopefully these technologies will be available to us soon. He can still keep his deal with Comcast. The telcos deliver video but are not considered cable companies. I guess the devil is in the details, though.

[DickY]

With FIOS, Verizon has taken it upon themselves to to lay the fiber optic cable, absorbing the costs to gain the market as it matures. Comcast up in the north east has also upgraded its infrastructure to fiber. It depends on these companies to supply that service to gain market share.

[njgranny]

We're getting the FIOS internet service and the phone service at the end of the month. We opted to keep our Direct TV for now. (anyway, we're hoping to get to TV within a year). They gave us a good deal to get us to change our service.

[Don H]

I don't think Verizon will be in The Villages area anytime soon. They currently have no physical presence in the area and would have to build out infrastructure (poles, fiber cable etc.) to enter the market. In areas of NY and NJ and others they only had to string fiber on their own existing poles and they could offer phone and internet service on the new system. Television is another story. No area is the same but in New York the cable contracts are awarded by each and every town and incorporated village. In order for Verizon to offer television over FIOS they have to win contracts (read money) before they can sell TV service. It's insane. New Jersey did it right when they made television approval a statewide agreement. I don't know how Florida does it. It would be nice if Verizon decided expansion in Florida is the way to go. Maybe some day. :dontknow: