Verizon Communications has announced the launch of its ‘Fios Gigabit Connection’ service, in what it claims represents the country’s largest deployment of gigabit connectivity to date. Offering downlink speeds of up to 940Mbps and upload rates of up to 880Mbps, the new service costs USD70 per month on a standalone basis, or from USD80 when ordered online as part of triple-play bundle. Existing customers looking to upgrade to a Fios Gigabit Connection plan will reportedly be able to do so online from 30 April, while those subscribers already signed up to Verizon’s ‘Instant Internet’ plan – which offers symmetrical speeds of 750Mbps at a cost of USD150 per month – will automatically be moved on to the new offering ‘soon’, with their bills lowered accordingly.
In terms of availability, Verizon has said that the Fios Gigabit Connection service is initially accessible to more than eight million premises in parts of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Richmond, Hampton Roads, Boston, Providence and Washington, D.C. It noted that this represented an increase of more than one million premises from the seven million that it launched its ‘Instant Internet’ service to back in January 2017, with the Washington, D.C. and Providence markets notably gaining access to the telco’s highest speeds for the first time.
Commenting on the launch, Ken Dixon, president of Verizon’s consumer wireline business, said: ‘Everyone deserves the fastest Internet available … No cable provider comes close to offering the speeds and power of Fios Gigabit connection on this kind of scale. And we’ve priced it so that millions can enjoy it.’