RSS FeedI Want My FIOS TV
I’ve wanted Verizon’s FIOS TV since I first heard about it. The promise of lightning fast fiber optic service combining Internet, HD TV and phone service all on one line is alluring. Combine that with the phone company’s historical reliability, a single bill, a good price and it struck me as my perfect digital match. Customer service number in hand, I called Verizon to sign up but what I learned in person and online is that it is unlikely we’ll see FIOS downtown (or even in dense urban DC neighborhoods) anytime soon. The Verizon rep offered to take my information and notify me when FIOS is available but I’m on too many “lists” as it is. Just say no to more Pottery Barn catalogs, I say.
Verizon is deploying FIOS in the DC metro area and you’ll see plenty of advertising for the offering but the urban infrastructure upgrade costs, a lingering specter of suspected neighborhood redlining and a high density of multi-unit dwellings all work against DC residents getting FIOS at the same time as our suburban kin, especially downtown. What’s a digital addict to do? A condo could get a high speed business data line such as a T-1 and distribute the network inside their building. The kicker there is that the condo association becomes responsible for managing a network, typically not their strong suit. So, the choice for Digital Joe and Jane is to get cable or DSL service. I’ve gone with Verzon’s DSL which is slower than cable but has been stable, reliable and inexpensive. It’s gone out for four hours out of two years of almost continuous operation. I’m using it now. Admittedly, I have contempt for paying for television but subscribe to basic cable because our building doesn’t have a master antenna which would allow for free over-the-air HD reception. Not being able to watch football runs counter to Man Laws – a snowy Fox channel wasn’t an option.
A slow corporate response to a recent multiday Comcast outage in a downtown condo keeps alive the stereotype of the cable company as a sluggish second tier player. Many developers lock condo associations into multiyear deals with cable companies in exchange for wiring the building’s infrastructure. Some agreements last a decade. Phooey on that! Competition between telecom and cable is alive and well and with Verizon spending north of $17.5 billion on FIOS this year time will eventually run out for cable. Thank goodness.
Cue the music. I want my FIOS TV.
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Two points to consider. First, while it is not the verizon service yearned for, DirecTV can be brought into your building as a Comcast alternative (an addition to Comcast in your building, not to replace Comcast). In my condo, we added it at no cost to the association. I put off switching until the last series of HighDev outages.
This week, my Comcast nieghbors do not have High Dev, but mine is fine. Second, as part of the DC Condominium Act, a new board is not bound by developer contracts. Yes – if you do not like the cleaning contract, mechanical services, trash contract, manageent, or cable contract you do not have to wait for it to expire to renegotiate or cancel. And, very likely your own bylaws prevent multiyear contracts anyway.
In our case, Comcast has never lived up to their agreement, anyway. So, we quit trying.
IP TV services will be rolled out well before FIOS is available here. You can bet that Apple is working on it as we speak, so they can integrate it into iTunes/Apple TV. Microsoft is also working on a similar system for their XBox 360. You’d need a high speed internet connection for either one…you’re Verizon DSL connection should be just fine.
Excellent post. I called Verizon about FIOS a few months back to ask about the DC deployment schedule. They transferred me to the VA deployment department, but the VA folks knew nothing about DC. No one I spoke to at Verizon could find a DC deployment person/department. Too bad, like you, I’d sign up for this today if it were available.
I think FiOS must be one of the few reasons to live in the ‘burbs. I don’t understand Verizon’s reluctance to roll it out in the city, since a ton of fiber’s already in the ground. And I would think the high density would be a plus for a telecom company with a last mile problem. I’m beginning to think your redlining comment isn’t too far off…
I couldn’t agree more with this post. My parents house in Texas has FIOS and it is everything it’s cracked up to be. But my apartment has a contract and wiring with Comcast as well so I couldn’t even get FIOS when it came. Cable isn’t a bad technology it has simply reached its limit in terms of bandwidth and fiber has far surpassed it. Petition and complain to your condo or apartment and get them to consider not renewing their contract with Comcast. After all, it’s your money.
Our condo also had a DirecTV dish installed for the entire building. While we did pay for the installation, the cost was modest and does include a master antenna. Residents are able to get the free over-the-air high definition content with the appropriate tuner, so everyone benefitted from the installation. My only regret is PBS is not one of the free stations we can pick up.
At the time of installation, we proposed having mandatory subscription for DirecTV for all units. The cost would have been $20 per unit, and individual units could have added on HBO etc separately. However, there were some die-hard fans who think On-Demand really is Comcastic. And others felt a $20 higher condo fee would hurt our marketability, even if you were no longer paying a $50+ cable bill. So there is a choice here, which isn’t all bad.
I am glad to have DirecTV, soon they will expand to even more hi-def channels. The NFL Sunday Ticket is a big advantage. I’m not a fan of Comcast customer service, and was even looking into Starpower/RSN for alternatives (too bad they don’t service our area).
I am still not over my communications ordeal with Comcast last weekend during telephone, internet and cable outage. This post is stirring my emotions again.
For the record, in the 4 years I had DirecTV, I also NEVER had to have anyone come out to fix anything. Not even at installation. And I never had to pay a monthly fee for my equipment. I need to talk to our new condo board.
COMCAST! I hate them. I had a billing issue it took over a month to resolve during which I looked for an alternative and was sad to find none. (I rent in a condo building that has not gone the DirecTV route.)
My billing issue literally got to the point where I contemplated a small claims suit, as it was about the only way I could figure out how to get someone from the company to deal with it. (I also contemplated filing a class action, both because I bet I’d have a legitimate claim, and because it would be a bigger headache for them.) Unfortunately, because of my job, I could not bring a lawsuit.
A month after I first brought the issue to their attention and showed them proof of my payment, I was finally credited for the payment. That month also consisted of (literally) about 20 phone calls, most of which lasted over an hour (thank god for speaker phone), being told about eight times that I couldn’t speak to a supervisor because they’d all “just stepped into a meeting,” getting hung up on about 5 times, having my service shut off 3 times, receiving 3 “payment past due” notices (apparently the department that disconnects your cable, reports you to a credit agency, or sends the notices does not check with the department to see whether the bill is in dispute), and 4 times of being told that someone or their supervisor would call me back and never receiving a call back.
Freakin’ monopolies….
It seems like most these comments digressed into complaints about Comcast when the real issue is why aren’t we getting FIOS downtown? As previously noted, the density should make the average cost of delivering service less not more expensive than in the sprawling suburbs.
It burns me to no end that some redneck living out in Manassas can have a better technology than I have living in the “capital of the free world.” I think the DC Council and regulatory authorities need to start holding Verizon accountable to provide the same standard of service they are delivering elsewhere in the region.
I think the reason FIOS isn’t available is simple– Apartment buildings are harder to upgrade than
Up until recently, there has been fiber up until a local switch and then copper to your home. With FIOS they bring fiber right to your home (what they call the “last mile”).
For them to do the same in an apartment/condo building would mean taking fiber to every single unit — a major construction project that would need require them replacing the copper that goes to every unit (no way will they do it for some but not the rest).
Also, rewiring stuff inside is significantly harder than rewiring outside (and building codes are different too). Furthermore (mentioned in the article), it is far cheaper to rewire stuff above ground versus under streets.
Don’t get me wrong. My parents out in Potomac have had FIOS for years and have never had an outage. I think its awesome. But I completely understand the business reasons for why it doesn’t make sense for Verizon…
Does anyone know whether Verizon is even planning to install FIOS in the District? And if not, why not? I’ve heard the “too many apartment buildings” excuse elsewhere, but it seems hard to believe that the company has gone two years without solving this problem. Any ideas on why they’re ignoring the extremely lucrative market that is DC’s urban residents, many of whom are young and use the internet everyday?
We’re all here begging to give them money. Why aren’t they even starting to install in DC?
How would a condo building go about getting DirectTV? For those who said a dish was installed at no cost, could you explain a little further?
I just dumped Comcast broadband for Verizon DSL (and it’s cheaper). Having all my eggs in one basket is not good. Comcast’s outages cause me to lose TV and Internet.
For 3Mbps/768Kbps (what I get with Comcast), first month is free, after that first six months is $20 per month and thereafter is $30 per month. Plus, you get a free DSL modem (with a wireless router built in if you want it).
I’m keeping cable TV for now because I like OnDemand, but if the outages continue (along with their false denials that I’m the only one having a problem), DirecTV here I come.
“our building doesn’t have a master antenna which would allow for free over-the-air HD reception”
It depends where you live, but sometimes you can do very well with a simple indoor antenna. There are few pretty cool terk hdtv antenna models that provide decent reception. I guess if you are up to 20 miles from the towers you can give it a try. In more distant area you probably need an outdoor antena.
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Our condo association got DirecTV installed at no cost in our building. It’s not FIOS, which makes me lick my chops, but gives us an alternative to Comcast-in-stone.
I’ve finally given up on Comcast cable because I do much of my work at home and cannot put up with their outages anymore. The most recent one was these past two days (cable TV and Internet), and they told me that there were no known outages and that I would have to make an appointment for a technician to come out.
Several years ago when I lived in the ‘burbs I had DirecTV, and while it wasn’t perfect it was much more reliable. And not once did I ever have to have a technician come by to resolve a problem.
In the ‘burbs I also had Verizon DSL, but while reliable it was too slow. I’m looking at alternatives, such as Speakeasy. I wonder what others are using that’s fast, relaible and not so expensive?