Verizon Launches ‘Gigabit’ Internet

Verizon is to offer a Gigabit internet service for the first time, albeit in a limited range of places and not quite at the implied speed.

The service is an upgrade to the existing Verizon Fios ‘Instant Internet’ offering of 750 Mbps for both uploads and downloads. The new deal will be available to the seven million or so homes in parts of New York, New Jersey and Virginia plus areas of Boston and Philadelphia that already have the necessary fiber networks, along with around a million homes in Providence and Washington DC that are getting the networks installed for the first time. That means there’ll be little if any crossover with the areas served by Google’s Fiber service.

There’s a slight catch in that despite the name, the advertised speed is 940 Mbps download and 880 Mbps uploads. However, Verizon might just be playing it safe as it says it already exceeded the advertised 750 Mbps offered in the area before this upgrade.

Despite the high speeds, the new pricing structure in the areas with the Gigabit service appears to be designed to discourage cord cutting. Most existing tiers of Internet service are being ditched there by Verizon, leaving a straight choice between $39.99 a month for 50 Mbps and $69.99 a month for the Gigabit service.

There’s also an option to combine the Gigabit internet with a TV and phone package for a total of $79.99 a month in the first year, rising to $84.99 after that. The TV covers what’s effectively a basic cable package plus a choice of any of seven small packages of themed lineups (eg Sports and News). The company is likely figuring on many customer deciding that if you’re already paying seventy bucks a month, an extra ten is probably worthwhile to get a set of channels that you’ll likely watch and aren’t easily available online.