We Talk To Verizon About Forced DSL to FiOS Upgrades(old news - 05:14PM Wednesday Nov 14 2007)
tags: Fiber · competition · coverage · business · telco · Verizon FiOS · Verizon Online DSL
We've talked with Verizon concerning reports yesterday that suggested the company had changed their TOS, with the goal of forcing DSL users in FiOS territory to upgrade. Obviously that might not be in the best interest of a customer who doesn't need that much bandwidth, and signed up for Verizon's $15 "for life" DSL plan. The portion of the company's TOS that raised alarms:
"At some point we might want to upgrade the technology in a town or neighborhood to provide improved service," Henson says. "We don't want to be stuck using an older technology if a new one is available -- so in our TOS we reserve the option to change technologies."
"Obviously, at such a time, a customer would have the option, within the terms of whatever contract they might have with us, of moving to some other provider, discontinuing service or sticking with Verizon," says Henson.
Verizon made it clear they'll honor contracts -- our guess being they'll make stubborn DSL users an introductory FiOS offer they can't refuse (literally) -- when they become eager to get users off the copper infrastructure.
Still, it does raise the question of what happens to "for life" customers who are happy with slower (and cheaper) DSL. Will Verizon offer them the same speed at the same price, but offer it via fiber? Yeah 768kbps via fiber sounds silly, but it might not to Grandma -- particularly for fifteen bucks.
Henson didn't want to speculate on future Verizon actions, though she did note that "if the time ever came when this situation occurred, we'd evaluate what's fair for all concerned and then do that. Our goal would be to provide great service and retain and grow customers for Verizon."
At such time as Verizon is able to provision the Service utilizing fiber optic technologies, we may in our discretion terminate your DSL Service and no longer make DSL service available to your location. In cases of such termination, we will offer to you Verizon Fios Internet Service and we will disclose to you applicable rates and additional terms, if any, and such rates and terms may differ from the DSL Services provided under this Agreement.
According to Verizon spokesperson Bobbi Henson, this portion of Verizon's TOS is not new. In fact, she notes, the language has been in place since March of 2005. Given that the language is old, it's clearly not part of any new push to bump customers from DSL to FiOS against their will. As we mentioned yesterday, fiber is cheaper to maintain than copper, so it's in Verizon's best interest to get customers migrated. We don't want to be stuck using an older technology if a new one is available -- so in our TOS we reserve the option to change technologies. -Verizon's Bobbi Henson |
"At some point we might want to upgrade the technology in a town or neighborhood to provide improved service," Henson says. "We don't want to be stuck using an older technology if a new one is available -- so in our TOS we reserve the option to change technologies."
"Obviously, at such a time, a customer would have the option, within the terms of whatever contract they might have with us, of moving to some other provider, discontinuing service or sticking with Verizon," says Henson.
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Still, it does raise the question of what happens to "for life" customers who are happy with slower (and cheaper) DSL. Will Verizon offer them the same speed at the same price, but offer it via fiber? Yeah 768kbps via fiber sounds silly, but it might not to Grandma -- particularly for fifteen bucks.
Henson didn't want to speculate on future Verizon actions, though she did note that "if the time ever came when this situation occurred, we'd evaluate what's fair for all concerned and then do that. Our goal would be to provide great service and retain and grow customers for Verizon."
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