Earnings for the fourth quarter were reported last week, but here at Policyblog I’ve been posting the breakdown on where our fiber-to-the-home project, FiOS, stands each quarter.  For history’s sake, here are last quarter’s numbers as well as those from one year ago (Feb 7, 2007).

Now the new numbers; these are highlights, with the full fact sheet below:

·         At the end of December 2007, Verizon had passed about 9.3 million homes and businesses in parts of 17 states.

·         Verizon expects to continue passing some 3 million premises annually through 2010, when the company expects to have passed about 18 million homes, or over half the homes it serves.

·         As of December 31, 2007, Verizon has more than 1.5 million FiOS Internet customers, an increase of 245,000 during the fourth quarter of 2007 – or about 3,900 new FiOS Internet customers every business day at an average penetration rate of 21 percent.

·         Verizon expects to attract 6 to 7 million FiOS Internet customers by year-end 2010 – a penetration rate of 35 percent to 40 percent.

·         During just the fourth quarter of 2007, Verizon added a net of 226,000 new FiOS TV customers -- or about 3,600 new customers every business day. 

·         In January 2008 we signed up our one-millionth FiOS TV customer, just 28 months after launching the service, making Verizon the 10^th largest subscription television provider in the country.

FULL FACT SHEET

Verizon is the only major U.S. telecom company building an advanced, all-digital fiber-optic network, on a mass scale, all the way to customers’ homes. 

Where is Verizon Deploying its Fiber Network?

·        At the end of December 2007, Verizon had passed about 9.3 million homes and businesses  in parts of 17 states.  

·        Verizon expects to continue passing some 3 million premises annually through 2010, when the company expects to have passed about 18 million homes, or over half the homes it serves.

·        Verizon has leveraged the versatility and capacity of the fiber network by introducing in 2007 industry-leading synchronous downstream and upstream data rates of up to 20 Megabits per second (Mbps), helping customers engage innovative broadband and video online activities and transfer large files more quickly and efficiently.

·        Verizon is investing nearly $23 billion in the FiOS project, between 2004 and 2010.  Over the same period, the company expects to save $5 billion because of the avoided maintenance costs and other savings associated with the new fiber plant.

What Broadband Products is Verizon Delivering on its All-Fiber Network?

·        At the end of December 2007, Verizon was marketing its industry-leading, high-speed FiOS Internet service – with downstream speeds of up to 50 Mbps and upstream speeds of up to 20 Mbps – in over 2,000 communities in all 17 states where the company is building its fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network.

·        As of December 31, 2007, Verizon has more than 1.5 million FiOS Internet customers, an increase of 245,000 during the fourth quarter of 2007 – or about 3,900 new FiOS Internet customers every business day at an average penetration rate of 21 percent.

·        Verizon expects to attract 6 to 7 million FiOS Internet customers by year-end 2010 – a penetration rate of 35 percent to 40 percent.

·        For more information on products and pricing, go to: http://www.verizon.com/fiberoptics.

What Video Products is Verizon Delivering on its All-Fiber Network?

·        At the end of December 2007, Verizon’s all-digital FiOS TV service was available to about 5.9 million premises in 13 of the states where the company is building FTTP:  California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

·        As of December 31, 2007, Verizon had 943,000 FiOS TV customers and in January 2008 signed up its one-millionth FiOS TV customer, just 28 months after launching the service, making Verizon the 10^th largest subscription television provider in the country, just 300,000 customers behind number 9, Mediacomm Communications.  During just the fourth quarter of 2007, Verizon added a net of 226,000 new FiOS TV customers -- or about 3,600 new customers every business day.  Better than 1 of every 6 customers who can buy FiOS TV is purchasing the service across the board, with penetration much higher in some areas.

·        Verizon's FiOS TV delivers hundreds of digital video and music channels, high-definition programming, video-on-demand content, a robust interactive media guide and other customer-friendly features.  Verizon will deliver more than 150 channels in High Definition by year-end.

·        Verizon expects to attract from 3 million to 4 million FiOS TV customers by 2010, which would be a market penetration of 20 percent to 25 percent.

·        As of December 2007, Verizon had 1,013 local video franchises covering about 12.5 million households.  Verizon continues to add new town and city franchises each week.

·        For more information on FiOS TV products and pricing, go to:

http://www.verizonfios.com/tv