Verizon Inc. is extending its fiber-to-the premise play once again, announcing it will light optical lines for business services in parts of Texas, California and Florida, as well as extending its residential FiOS service to Albany County, N.Y.
In new markets including Los Angeles, Tampa and Dallas, Verizon FiOS Internet Service for Business targets companies with 50 employees or fewer. It is offering three tiers of service with options for dynamic Internet protocol or static IP addresses ranging from $59.95 to $389.95 monthly, with connection speeds ranging from 5 Megabits per second downstream to 30 Mbps.
Business customers can receive discounts of 10 to 20 percent by buying the service as part of a package that includes local and long-distance service.
“It’s like going from a tricycle to a sports car at a great price,” said Marilyn O’Connell, Verizon senior vice president of broadband solutions. “FiOS for Business gives companies powerful connection speeds for today’s bandwidth-intensive applications at prices close to those they pay for ordinary broadband services.”
Meanwhile, Verizon also announced it will expand its FiOS residential service to Colonie, N.Y. – having already announced it will roll out service in nearby Delmar, as well as several Syracuse suburban areas, Westchester and Rockland counties and on Long Island.
Verizon debuted the FiOS residential service in Keller, Texas, last year, and since then, it has seen the initial number of subscribers double. The residential service also offers downstream connection speeds between 5 Mbps and 30 Mbps, with prices ranging from $34.95 to $199.95 monthly, depending on whether the customer opts for discount service bundles.
The telco is now building its FiOS fiber network in half of the states where it provides landline communications services, and it has already started offering service in 10 states. It also expects to hire between 3,000 and 5,000 new employees nationwide to support the FiOS network systems.