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Verizon to Install Fiber Lines; Area Residents May Get Video, Internet, Phone Service on a Single Bill

Posted on: Wednesday, 11 May 2005, 15:00 CDT

A high-fiber digital diet will be available to some computer and phone users in the Richmond area, making way for consumers to have all their communications services plugged onto a single bill.

Verizon Communications Inc. announced yesterday that it is building a fiber-optic network in and around Richmond and the counties of Henrico and Chesterfield.

The "fiber-to-the-premises" project will install the system directly into homes and businesses, linking both to the Verizon fiber network.

Fiber optics deliver data, voice and video signals on hair-thin glass strands, which results in faster speeds to the different services, more so than standard methods such as cable or digital subscriber lines.

Local rival Comcast Corp. has a "backbone" fiber-optics network for Internet, voice and video services in the Richmond area. The lines are dropped in a neighborhood, and the connection to the home or business is made through coaxial cable. The company also plans an Internet phone service on its broadband network.

With potential for video services, Verizon's fiber-optic installation in Richmond will put the company in the mix as more and more companies start to "bundle" their content to include video, Internet and telephone service onto a single bill.

For instance, Comcast, traditionally a cable television and Internet provider, also offers a digital phone service, which is stepping into telecom giant Verizon's stomping ground. Unlike Comcast, however, Verizon offers traditional and wireless phone service.

In turn, with the installation of fiber-optics, Verizon plans to offer video services to compete against companies such as cable- provider Comcast.

Verizon's video services will not be available until the company makes cable franchise agreements with the localities.

The company began testing its fiber-to-the-home network in a high- end neighborhood in Northern Virginia in 2002, and started building fiber networks there and in the eastern part of the state earlier this year.

Installation of the fiber lines in the Richmond area will take several months, said Verizon spokesman Harry J. Mitchell. He did not put a time frame on the availability, but once complete, there will be three classes of fiber service available to consumers, with download speeds of up to 5, 15 and 30 megabits per second.

Traditional DSL or cable service comes close or can rival that speed, but fiber has the ability to get even faster.

Fiber-optics packages will range from $34.95 a month to $199.95 a month. Cost will depend on the customer's need for speed and whether subscribers use fiber as stand-alone service or as part of a package deal.During the next several months, Verizon will begin installing the lines underground and from utility poles throughout neighborhoods in the area.

Contractors Ivy H. Smith Co. and S&N Communications with notify respective residents and businesses with letters and door-hangers before construction begins.

Any ideas? Staff writer Jeffrey Kelley can be reached at (804) 649-6348 or jkelleytimesdispatch.com

Story Filed By The Richmond Times Dispatch, Richmond, VA

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

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