Big News for Hillsborough County

[yanks2402]

Verizon Is Granted Authority to Offer FiOS TV to 735,000 Residents of Hillsborough County, Fla., and Launches the Service in Manatee County, Fla.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060201/nyw186.html?.v=19

It is important to note that this agreement seems to exclude the cities of Tampa and Bradenton. So my guess is that if your address says Tampa, you're out of luck.

The article also states that Verizon is still negotiating with Sarasota and Pasco counties.

 

[korsjs]

yep, a great birthday present for me. (tomorrow) we kind of new about this for a week and was just waiting on the official press realease which you posted. thanks.

here is the verizon press release.
http://newscenter.verizon.com/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=93234

 

[dragon002]

question for you gentlemen,

why is fios the godsend you are saying it is?

why would you put all your eggs in one basket?

please explain all this fios-mania.

i cant imagine when someone hits a telephone pole and you have no internet, tv, phone , etc.

at least during hurricanes, ice storms and floods, you can throw up a dish, a generator and find out the news, try that with fios.

 

[LonghornXP]

question for you gentlemen,

why is fios the godsend you are saying it is?

why would you put all your eggs in one basket?

please explain all this fios-mania.

i cant imagine when someone hits a telephone pole and you have no internet, tv, phone , etc.

at least during hurricanes, ice storms and floods, you can throw up a dish, a generator and find out the news, try that with fios.

Its a godsend because we finally have a true real alternative for TV services.

Its better to put one egg in our basket (the Verizon Egg) than no egg at all. Or I could say its better to have 5 eggs in my basket than four eggs.

This FIOS-Mania is all about alternative, better offerings, better picture quality, better prices and most of all a new person in told to make others fight for our business.

If someone hits a telephone pole I wouldn't be worried about TV service as most likely my power cables are also on that pole along with the cable companies wires. That excuse is long and gone as cable still no doubt has many more cable customers than satellite.

If we put aside the advantages of FIOS TV over other companies the biggest change is that we now have a hard-lined TV company competing with the cable company and I mean "The" cable company as most areas only have one. Right now satellite has been a big advantage for us but with VOD along with tons of HDTV services now and into the future a hard-wired connection can always do more and be able todo more with upgrades than satellite. I will say satellite has come a very long way and I have no doubts that both satellite companies will be around and strong in ten years but without that extra second hard-lined company we will never see the true pricing and channel offerings we could see.

The botton line is that right now Verizon is the only current true real threat to the cable companies and that helps us customers.

 

[korsjs]

question for you gentlemen,

why is fios the godsend you are saying it is?

why would you put all your eggs in one basket?

please explain all this fios-mania.

i cant imagine when someone hits a telephone pole and you have no internet, tv, phone , etc.

at least during hurricanes, ice storms and floods, you can throw up a dish, a generator and find out the news, try that with fios.

what longhorn said. plus, i am stoked about it.

 

[riffjim4069]

First, it's all about choice and a free market society. Satellite has flourished because people were tired of having only one choice of cable provider...it was no choice at all: service was over-priced, customers experienced poor customer service, there was no incentive for cable providers to improve.

Second, the picture quality is incredible. There is no down-resolution, over-compression, etc. It's like DBS used to be...long, long ago.

Third, blazing fast Internet and bundled savings: voice, date, video and cell phone.

Fourth, reliability & service! My Verizon landline has been "out" exactly twice in more than 20 years of service: one outage was for a couple hours while I was at work and I had a voice mail advising me of the outage when I got home...and my bill was automatically credited for the outage. Another outage was after hours. Customer service immediately narrowed down the problem and dispatched a technician the following morning. By the time I arrived home from work they had replaced a piece of their equipment, buried another phone line since there was unacceptable noise on the line, and left voice mail detailing problem resolution. Also, we've had our Verizon wireless service for almost 6 years....there is a reason they have the best customer service and best coverage area of all the wireless providers.

Personally, I am willing to pay a premium for reliable and quality services, but Verizon is providing them at a competitive or discounted price. As much as I had enjoyed satellite service, the DBS providers will have to reinvent themselves if they hope to complete with the Telcos (Verizon, AT&T, and even the Cavalier Telephone, etc.) and Cable in the future. You wouldn't believe all the people dumping their cable and satellite providers where I work (Fairfax County VA).

BTW, I'm still sticking with Dish Network because FiOS TV is still another 12-24 months away in my area.

 

[dragon002]

good reasons guys, i stand corrected.

 

[riffjim4069]

I just wanted to add that I have been through hurricanes and power outages...landline telephone continued to work without interruption (it is being powered with low-voltage directly from the phone company). Likewise, Verizon's fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) customers will have their own fiber run directly to the central office. Customers will also have battery backup and will be able to use their phone service for hours/days (don't remember the specifics) during a power outage.

 

[YankeeFan]

question for you gentlemen,

why is fios the godsend you are saying it is?

why would you put all your eggs in one basket?

please explain all this fios-mania.

i cant imagine when someone hits a telephone pole and you have no internet, tv, phone , etc.

at least during hurricanes, ice storms and floods, you can throw up a dish, a generator and find out the news, try that with fios.

TWO WORDS: NO HD-LITE!

 

[korsjs]

here is an article from the tampa tribune today.

http://www.tbo.com/news/scitech/MGBDYT0L6JE.html

 

[LonghornXP]

I just wanted to add that I have been through hurricanes and power outages...landline telephone continued to work without interruption (it is being powered with low-voltage directly from the phone company). Likewise, Verizon's fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) customers will have their own fiber run directly to the central office. Customers will also have battery backup and will be able to use their phone service for hours/days (don't remember the specifics) during a power outage.

Those are very good points but I'm talking a risk by having all cordless phones in my house. If power goes out my base station wouldn't be powered so even though my phone service is working off that battery backup my phones themselves just won't work. Also in the case of a bad hurricane or something the chances of medical help getting to my house won't be good either. Because with those cordless phones (not wireless cell phones but cordless landline phones) people still don't know that they won't work with no power. They think the handset has a bettery but that doesn't mean jack if your basestation doesn't have a battery.

Either way everything that was said in this thread pretty much sum up why all of this can change the way we pay, enjoy and watch TV service.

 

[Floyd]

A couple of days ago we had that front stall over Tampa that produced about 8" of rain with a lot of lightning, at least in my neighborhood. The lightning blew out my fios around noon, leaving me without phone or internet. A quick call to Verizon had me scheduled for a 4pm repair, but it rained moderately all day. A repair guy showed up the minute it quit raining, around 7pm, replaced the inside power supply and the 8x7" module inside the ONT outdoor terminal.
Hopefully, as more people sign on they will maintain enough personell to keep the repair times down. The ONTs have a certain amout of diagnostic capability built in, which can be accessed by their phone techs, and there is a row of status lights available when you open the unit cover.