Altice USA looks to one-up Fios with multi-gig launch in Q2

Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei revealed the operator’s long-talked about multi-gig service launch is fast approaching and it expects to announce the first of hopefully many broadband grant wins in the coming weeks. Goei said Altice in recent months has stepped up promotional activity in areas where it overlaps with Verizon’s Fios service in order to “keep the pressure up” on its competition. He added it could soon gain the upper hand in their ongoing battle. “By the time we’re at multi-gig, which will be at the end of the second quarter, we’ll probably for the first time have a better product than them on fixed line ever,” Goei stated. “Now, we don’t expect to see a lot of subscribers, but it’s nice from a branding and a customer awareness standpoint for us to have the best network in the tri-state [New York, New Jersey and Connecticut] area relative to them.” Goei didn’t specify what multi-gig service tier Altice is planning to offer. However, in May 2021 he stated it was aiming to launch a 10-gig product within 18 months. Verizon Fios recently debuted a 2-gig service in parts of New York City. The CEO stated on a recent earnings call that around 15 percent of Altice’s customer base takes gigabit speeds, leaving plenty of room for step ups.