Rich Fiscus
24 Oct 2007 22:07
Analyst David Barden predicts that Verizon's FiOS network, which launched two years ago and now boasts growth of more than 10,000 customers in an average week, will have two million customers by year's end.
Although cable companies didn't take Verizon seriously when they first announced the service, no one is laughing any more. "Verizon is real," Steve Burke, Comcast Corp's chief operating officer, said last month at an investor conference. "Verizon is taking video customers from us."
FiOS may represent the most serious challenge yet to the dominance of cable companies for television and high speed internet customers. While cable companies have been able to hold on to internet customers and also gain market share as phone providers, traditional phone companies have been less successful with DSL and video offerings. Based on current and projected sales figures, Verizon is likely to break into the top 10 television providers, behind 6 cable companies and 2 satellite television providers.
With their non-traditional all fiber approach Verizon has some definite advantages over traditional cable television services. Not only does their pure fiber connection offer more bandwidth for everything from TV channels to internet uploading and downloading. The company also offers unique DVRs that can send recordings to different televisions.
Since they operate on a national scale, Verizon has the ability to completely alter the television and consumer broadband internet markets. In fact right now, their biggest concern is the cost of connecting customers and supplying channels, both of which cost significantly more than what cable providers pay.
Source: Wall Street Journal