According to sources that talked with The Verge, Verizon is planning on offering faster internet services for its FIOS customers, but the new tiers are going to cost a pretty penny.
Verizon will be upgrading many of its FIOS internet speeds, and the changes are set to go into effect on June 17th. The base 15/5Mbps (download/upload) plan will cost $10 more than the current price of $54.99 at $64.99 a month. The current 25/25Mbps will be upgraded to 50/25 and will not see a price increase–it will continue to cost $74.99. The current 50/20Mbps plan will see a significant speed bump to 150/65Mbps, and it will cost $94.99 a month (no price increase). A new 75/35 speed plan will become available and it will cost $84.99 a month. Finally, the service that readers will be drooling over–the 300Mbps plan–will feature speeds of 300Mbps downloads and 65Mbps uploads. It will cost a hefty $204.99 a month, a price that The Verge notes is a mere $5 more than the 150/35 speed tier that it replaces.
In typical Comcast telco fashion, Verizon has managed to tack on up to three fees including a $5 per month fee for those without a contract, a $5 fee for those that do not subscribe to FIOS phone service, and a $100 fee to install equipment for those that want the upper two speed tiers. Fortunately (sort of…), users can avoid the $100 fee if they are new customers or already subscribe to the company’s 150Mbps tier. Also on the less-than-stellar news front, Verizon will not be upgrading plans for those on VDSL plans (in buildings where Verizon delivers fiber to the premises and uses copper from there to homes–think older apartment buildings). Even worse, VDSL customers will still be subject to the increased pricing although they cannot take advantage of the upgraded speeds.
| Single Family Home | VDSL 1 | VDSL 2 | 2 Year Contract | Month-to-Month Rate |
| 3/1 Mbps | 3/1 Mbps | 3/1 Mbps | $54.99 | $59.99 |
| 15/5 Mbps | 10/2 Mbps | 15/5 Mbps | $64.99 | $69.99 |
| 50/25 Mbps | 20/5 Mbps | 20/10 Mbps | $74.99 | $79.99 |
| 75/35 Mbps | 30/5 Mbps | 50/10 Mbps | $84.99 | $89.99 |
| 150/65 | n/a | n/a | $94.99 | $99.99 |
| 300/65 | n/a | n/a | $204.99 | $309.99 |
(Source: The Verge. The 150/65 plan doesn’t seem like a bad deal actually, if only I had FIOS in my area!)
So this fiber internet upgrade announcement seems great at first does have a dark side. Some customers will be getting a great deal while others will be getting the short end of the stick. Here’s hoping that you are one of the lucky customers on the middle tiers who have FTTH that get a free speed upgrade! More information on the specifics of this upgrade should be coming later this month.
Too bad my area only gets
Too bad my area only gets Comcast or “century link” 🙁
I have a bit more competition
I have a bit more competition with Comcast and AT&T Uverse as options but Uverse is more expensive than Comcast!! 0.o
Do you have to request the
Do you have to request the new speeds or is it automatic? I currently have 35/35..
I think it will be automatic
I think it will be automatic for you, but the top end tiers have to be requested afaik.
Uverse isn’t that fast around
Uverse isn’t that fast around here, and basic comcast is 20/5 which is nice.
too bad verizon has halted FiOS and won’t be expanding into any new areas.
I think the fastest Uverse
I think the fastest Uverse plan here is 24/3 and my link speed (we had Uverse for a couple months for TV) did have enough overhead for that rumored 45mbps plan but I bet it will cost as much as Comcast’s 105 plan 🙁
You didn’t comment on the
You didn’t comment on the most important thing of all. Are there data caps? If no, I can think of quite a few people, myself included, for whom 300 a month might be found for those speeds as long as QOS is good and they don’t have dumb restrictions like not letting people run any kind of server, not even a private ftp or 5 player private minecraft server.
Correction gontlemen, I meant
Correction gontlemen, I meant 200 a month.
As far as I know they do not
As far as I know they do not have any sort of “hard cap” like Comcast used to. I’m sure they have something buried in the fine print that if you are disrupting their network they can shut you down but otherwise you should be alright 😉
Food or 300mb internet, uhmm
Food or 300mb internet, uhmm let me think? 😛
Well i thought i be getting really fast internet but this kind of changed my mind really fast.
I just dont have the budget for that but wish i did.
FiOS has NO data caps. I move
FiOS has NO data caps. I move TB’s of data a month in both directions. Always up, Always fast, At this time its the only “service” of ANY kind that I am happy with. *note 35/35 connection, my actual speed is 45/43. Not a single complaint.