Verizon FiOS May Soon See Some Gigabit Competition, Finally

[Commentary] One interesting side note regarding the growing Gigabit movement is the lack of it in Verizon FiOS territories. It seems weekly (if not daily) now that we hear about some new Gigabit plan, but from what I can tell, very few, if any have touched existing Verizon FiOS markets. Google, with its announced Google Fiber expansion plans noticeably avoided any potential Verizon FiOS markets. They seem to enjoy competing with AT&T though. Comcast surprised the industry with their Gigabit Fibert-to-the-home (FTTH) plans, but they too have avoided FiOS markets, at least initially. Chicago is the latest announced market for Comcast Gigabit and Comcast also intends to take on EPB, the pioneer in Gigabit Internet, in Chattanooga (TN).

It appears Cox may be the first company to take on Verizon FiOS markets with a Gigabit play. They announced they’re bringing their G1GBLAST service to several new markets summer 2015, including some Virginia markets, where they may compete with Verizon FiOS. Comcast says they will roll out Gigabit service across their entire footprint, using both DOCSIS 3.1 and FTTH. They haven’t revealed a roadmap for their Gigabit launches, but they currently compete in many markets with Verizon FiOS, meaning if you take them at their word, they will soon take on FiOS. Verizon FiOS has enjoyed a respite from Gigabit competition, but it looks like that may soon change. Will this slow, but growing competitive threat force Verizon to finally embrace Gigabit service for FiOS?