Cable Companies Facing Competition from Verizon FiOS
FIOS, Verizon’s fiber optic network, is causing cable subscribers to move from existing companies to Verizon. The speed and reliability of FIOS is superior to cable, for the same price.
The cable guys have tried to fight back by offering free services and other incentives and have implemented ?boost? and metro ethernet technology. There is also some talk about doubling the speed based on a new technology that is being developed.
Cable companies would still be able to use their existing infrastructure and lines with the new technology, but would allow for upgraded speed. The cable company’s headquarters houses the new system.
Many cable subscribers have complained that there were bandwidth caps or limitations put on their connections if they had sustained high usage over a few hours, but as of earlier this year these cable companies have removed this. Most people did not notice the change, and the move was directed at people abusing their online service by using shareware software.
The bandwidth issue caused many customers a lot of headaches, and trying to get the cap removed took a lot of effort and time on behalf of cable subscribers. Other issues with the cable providers included high usage of internet in certain areas and the affect it had on all customers, and they way inclement weather affected service.
Bandwidth is not an issue with FIOS. The Fiber Optic networks of Verizon are almost limitless compared to what cable offers through their coaxial copper networks. Switching to FIOS eliminated the bandwidth problems for former cable companies.
While some FIOS customers might have had installation problems as Verizon desperately tried to catch up to demand, overall reliability has been well above average. And the best part about it is that the infrastructure is brand new, meaning little or no service interruption once you are up and running.
FIOS should be a warning to the cable companies to get their act together. They need to make changes in their infrastructure and change their older copper networks. This will cost cable companies a lot of money, but in the long run, maybe they can find recycling solutions to their outdated system.
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