From a Verizon press release:
Starting today, Verizon is offering its high-speed symmetrical FiOS Internet services to consumers in 16 states served by its advanced, all-fiber-optic network. The symmetrical services make possible equally fast downstream and upstream connections of up to 15 megabits per second (Mbps) or up to 20 Mbps depending on the state where the service is sold.
Full press release:
Verizon Continues to Dramatically Raise Broadband Upload Speeds in FiOS Internet Service Areas
Michigan is not one of those 16 states.
So here’s my question, why is Verizon totally ignoring Michigan when it comes to FiOS deployment? Granted that much of their Michigan territory is rural areas, but they also serve some fairly populated areas (some Lansing suburbs, Muskegon and surrounding areas, and a few exchanges in the Detroit LATA). You’d think they’d start offering FiOS, if only to compete with Comcast and Charter.
A few years ago, there was a rumor that Verizon wanted to sell some or all of its Michigan exchanges. GTE got rid of its Upper Peninsula exchanges before it merged with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon, but Verizon still serves large tracts of sparsely populated area in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. So, their reluctance to begin offering FiOS anywhere in the state seems like a bad omen to me – I can’t help but wonder if they are thinking they’d like to sell their Michigan wireline holdings to another company, should some company make a sufficiently attractive offer.
As almost everyone knows by now, wireline telephone usage is decreasing. Young people are not getting wireline phone service, and more and more older people are starting to move to cell phones, VoIP, or cable telephone service (although a non-insignificant number of the folks that try the cable telephony option get disgusted with what passes for customer service at the cable company, and wind up going back to the traditional phone company). So it may be that Verizon is looking at all that decades-old “outside plant” in rural areas of Michigan and wondering if they could ever make enough money off of FiOS to recover the cost of stringing all new fiber. Still, it’s not as though Indiana doesn’t have plenty of rural areas, and Verizon has started offering FiOS in a few areas of Indiana. So, what’s wrong with Michigan, that Verizon hasn’t announced any plans to offer FiOS here?
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fragzem said
I’ve just received my installation of symmetrical 20Mbit service from Verizon FiOS.
Please see my blog for the install, the anticipation, speed tests, and other random stuff!
-Fragzem
http://fragzem.wordpress.com