RSS FeedFIOS Is Coming To DC…Will It Come Downtown?
Legislation may soon be on the DC Council’s schedule that brings Verizon’s FIOS fiber optic TV, telephone and Internet service to DC. We griped some about not getting FIOS in downtown DC to provide some real competition for Comcast but we’re now happy to hear FIOS is coming to DC. Will it come downtown?
The neighborhoods to get service in the first three years will include “all residences in an initial service area served by three Verizon switching offices in the District’s northwest and southeast quadrants” as follows: Barry Farm, Brightwood, Cleveland Park, Crestwood, Fort Stanton, Friendship Heights, Historic Anacostia, Petworth, Shepherd Park, Sheridan, Tenleytown, Van Ness and Woodley Park.
The first six years would bring service to “parts” of: Adams Morgan, Benning, Benning Heights, Buzzard Point, Deanwood, Dupont Circle, Eastland Gardens, Ft. McNair, Lincoln Heights, Logan Circle, Shaw and Southwest Waterfront.
We’re not sure if “parts of Logan Circle and Shaw” means Verizon will be upgrading the central switching office at 12th and H Streets NW that connects downtown residences. Residents will have an opportunity to learn more and provide input according to last Tuesday’s press release from the DC Government’s Office of Cable Television:
The Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs plans to hold a public hearing on the franchise agreement before sending the legislation to the full Council for review and consideration.
We’re very excited Verizon is making this commitment to DC and don’t take the costs involved lightly. It costs serious coin to restring a digital network. We also really like that some economically disadvantaged neighborhoods are among the first neighborhoods on the deployment list. We hoped to see a concrete plan or timetable for provision of FIOS service to all residences in DC, including downtown, so we’ll be checking into this further and keeping you posted.
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Comments
Ugh, agreed. Comcast=Disaster. But recently they commented on a post I wrote about them and stuff turned a little weird. Incidentally, our internet got fixed but I still have no love for them.
The only way comcast could stay in business is with out competition. I have to laugh at all their ads — each one should come with a customer service disclaimer. Maybe they could have a meter in the corner of the screen that show’s “average number of hours late to service calls this month”. or “number of times technician failed to show” or number of customer vacation hours lost while waiting for technician” Now there would be some truth in advertising
I switched from Comcast internet to Verizon DSL internet. I am saving $420 a year. I don’t notice any real difference in speed. Of course, Verizon completely screwed up the transfer, failed to flip a switch to convert my phone line to phone/DSL, and instead shut off my phone line. Had to take a day off work to stay home for the Verizon service call, which was completely useless….he only had to call the office to have them flip a switch to make the phone work again. And Verizon’s phone people and internet people don’t talk to eachother, are completely separate (although as I pointed out, repeatedly, to the consumer it’s all Verizon). So Verizon scored no points on customer service, but at least I am saving a bunch of money and am happy to have one less service with Comcast, the biggest rip off company around.
I read under the agreement that some DC neighborhoods won’t get FiOS until 2012.
I would hope the area next to the VERIZON CENTER would be a priority.
There is also a page at this Verizon link that includes a form you can fill out to send an email to the key DC Councilmembers on this issue. I hope they will pass this even without these emails, but this also lets Verizon know where the interested customers live within DC. If enough people from the PQ fill this out, they may come to this neighborhood sooner rather than later.
The more people who go to Verizon’s FIOS site and request FIOS the sooner it will come to the area. When the site tells you FIOS is not currently available in your area there is a prompt to request notification when it is available.
Its sad that we have to lobby our city government to get a service like internet/TV. The only say they should have is in granting the permits to put the fiber lines in. I’m sure our noble councilmembers think they are ‘protecting consumers’ but all they are doing is restricting our right to free competition, lower prices, and better service. I just don’t get it.
Sorry to be a downer, but I wouldn’t expect PQ to get FiOS anytime soon.
The high density of the area is going to be a significant detriment to the fiber construction.
I phoned Verizon on another matter about 2 weeks ago. The rep. was trying to sell me DSL, I told her I did have it and cancelled the service for cable modem, which is better and that I am waiting for FIOS.
She had my address up and if she if knows what she is talking about, FIOS will be available.
What I do like is On Demand on Comcast. I don’t think Direct TV has that; more like TiVO. Does anyone have Direct TV in PQ and can comment on that, thanks.
Mary Cheh (councilperson) replied to my email sent through the Verizon site. She said that of course she supported the legislation, because she’s been prodding verizon to get their paperwork together for months.
It sounds like it has actually been our gov’t lobbying verizon to do business with us. That’s even more sad.
First, Mary Cheh is an awesome Councilperson. She gets it.
Second, FiOS is a very expensive investment/risk that Verizon is taking. So, in some ways it does require lobbying in order for them to decide whether to bring it to an area. From what I understand, the equipment and technology is a lot more expensive than cable wiring. So, it is important to have a political voice for our neighborhood to prod Verizon to include our neighborhood. Hear that Mr. Evans?
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However long it takes, it will be a great day for PQ consumers when we get some choice over t.v. service. Verizon isn’t exactly the number one in customer service, but I have to think that if Comcast, which is the absolute WORST in the customer service department, gets some competition, it will have to improve. I know that the minute I can ditch Comcast, I will.