PolicyBlog

As reported in some press accounts today, we can confirm that Verizon will carry the new Epix movie channel from MGM, Paramount and Lionsgate films.  Details on my Verizon At Home... Read More

Free Wi-Fi service from Verizon for millions of FiOS Internet and High Speed Internet (HSI) customers is available now, we have announced.  The new service is available at thousands of hotspots around the country at no extra charge for qualified Verizon broadband customers.  More details are on the Verizon At Home blog... Read More

Since PolicyBlog is supposed to be about, well, policy, we think it makes some sense to launch a new blog devoted to Verizon products and services like FiOS called “Verizon at Home” and I invite you to take a look.    And, yes, we look forward to hearing your ideas for how we can make things better as well as letting you know about the latest things going on here.   This morning, we have details on Verizon FiOS TV Widget Bazaar which (for now) includes Widgets for Facebook and Twitter as well... Read More

As readers of this blog know, Cablevision has refused to make the MSG channels that it owns available in HD to Verizon.  That's why we haven’t provided the HD versions of the MSG regional sports programming to our customers in New York and New Jersey.  Now we’re asking the Federal Communications Commission for a ruling – within five months – that could change all that.In something called a Program Access Complaint filed yesterday, we ask the FCC to compel Cablevision to provide this programming... Read More

If there was any doubt that the role of broadband in American life is at a tipping point, consider this:  Home buyers are more interested in whether a home has an all-fiber-optic Internet hookup than whether there’s a community pool. Or a daycare center.  Or a nearby convenience store. In new surveys just reported, even people who have never had a fiber link rank an ultra-fast connection tops out of five key options. This news tells us two things: First, Internet hookups really matter inside... Read More

More FiOS HD?  Yes, it’s for real.  Verizon FiOS TV is getting six new HD channels – and we’re letting readers of this blog know about it first. We’re launching HD channels from Viacom – MTV, VH1, CMT (Country Music Television), Nickelodeon, Spike TV, and Comedy Central.  They’ll be available in all FiOS TV markets by the end of next week.  This is most-watched content and it’ll be even more popular in HD. Depending on the number of local and regional HD channels available in your market,... Read More

If you’ve been a Verizon FiOS Internet customer for the past several years, you know that we’ve continued to offer you faster speeds.  In 2004 when we launched FiOS Internet, our entry level download speed was 5 Mbps, and the upload speed was 2 Mbps.  Fast forward to June 2008, when we made 50/20 Mbps available to all FiOS customers. There’s no doubt we’ve transformed the market for high-speed broadband services in the United States, and cable has had to play catch-up.  Yet cable’s response has... Read More

When you ask people what sort of information they want at their fingertips, news about the local community almost always comes up at the top of the list.  Verizon FiOS TV is giving subscribers more ways to get the local information, entertainment, weather and sports that matters most. Since we first started offering FiOS TV, customers have been able to quickly check local traffic and weather with Widgets.  We’ve added other Widgets for news, sports and weather.  Click the Widgets button on your... Read More

Competition is great for consumers, but for Comcast, it must be intimidating.  How else to explain the over-the-top propaganda campaign Comcast has mounted against Verizon?  We have demanded that Comcast “cease and desist” from this unfair, untruthful and illegal advertising.  Comcast cares, we keep hearing, but a series of new Comcast ads demonstrates conclusively that Comcast does not care about getting accurate information to consumers. In these ads, Comcast once again tries to convince the... Read More