Verizon confirmed today what many analysts have been predicting for some time. They intend to abandon new DSL service in markets where their FTTH FiOS product is available. New customers who live in a FiOS territory and want broadband from Verizon will no longer be able to choose DSL as an option.
The news was revealed on their quarterly earnings conference call with financial analysts. It’s really no surprise, given the ascent of FiOS and the descent of DSL for Verizon. Indeed, Verizon actually looses DSL customers every quarter, and if not for FiOS, would have negative growth for broadband.
For 1Q12, which ended March 31, 2012, Verizon added 104K net broadband connections, 193K of which came from FiOS. Do the math and that means Verizon lost 89K DSL customers, most of which probably came courtesy of their DOCSIS 3.0 equipped cable competitors. Verizon’s future is very much about FiOS and LTE, not DSL and legacy wireline voice. FiOS revenue now accounts for 63% of Verizon’s total consumer wireline revenues.
Their residential FiOS digital voice product, a FTTH-delivered VoIP wireline voice service, added 414K voice subscribers last quarter. Their legacy residential TDM wireline voice service lost 562K access lines in the same time period.
So bye-bye DSL in FiOS territories. For customers who don’t want full blown FTTH, Verizon can also conceivably push them towards HomeFusion, their fixed broadband wireless product delivered via 4G LTE (at least in the markets where it is available). Or will Verizon be content in pushing those customers to their new cable ‘coopetitors’, as long as they choose to take 4G LTE mobile broadband from them?
New Verizon broadband customers will have options. Those options just no longer will include DSL. Makes you wonder what Verizon intends to do with their non-FiOS markets, where DSL is their only wireline broadband option.
What do you think?
- Let them die a slow death, while pushing new customers to cable or HomeFusion
- Sell them off
- Upgrade those DSL markets to a FTTN option and use VDSL2 or some other next-generation DSL
- None of the Above
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
12 comments
Sam says:
Apr 19, 2012
Definitely not 3. It will be 1, which leads to 2.
george says:
Apr 19, 2012
It’s one. Will be hard to do 2 once 1 starts. Who would buy them, when vz is trying to get those customers back from the company they just sold them two.
Mike says:
Apr 19, 2012
Not 3. More likely 1 which will probably lead 2 in the future.
Roger says:
Apr 19, 2012
#4… why were they continuing to provide, let along offer DSL when they had fiber in place?
Brad says:
Apr 19, 2012
I'd say probably #2. Number 1 is already happening, mainly because Verizon DSL here is terrible, and I can't see Verizon installing fiber to support FIOS.
Jeff says:
Apr 20, 2012
I think they'll target it and do 1 where the market is lost and 2 where value can be still be extracted
Edward says:
Jun 6, 2012
We recently had FIOS installed in my community where I previously had Verizon DSL, the Verizon DSL wasn't super fast (3mb/768kb) but it worked well and was cheap only $19.99 a month. I should have left things alone but when my directv contract expired I decided to take comcast up on an offer they had and bundled my services so I had everything going through them…..comcast sucked and after 6 months the price went way up so I decided to go back to verizon…..Guess what Verizon told me to pound salt, now that FIOS was in the area they would not reconnect my DSL all they would offer me was there super expensive FIOS which started at 79.99 a great deal more than the 19.99 I was paying for internet. True the speeds on FIOS are much faster than DSL but I didn't need the speed I use my computer to read news articles and send e-mails and nothing more..
So now I am stuck
anonymous says:
Nov 7, 2012
This article is a bit misleading. If you are in a "FiOS area" but your home in particular isn't FiOS capable then Verizon still offers DSL.
guest says:
Dec 11, 2012
how do i find what area still offers dsl?
guest says:
Dec 11, 2012
now i know why i have trouble with my service. this is very disturbing,glad iread the articule.
colin says:
Feb 7, 2014
DSL speed has been slowed down to almost useless so Verizon is already driving away customer #1. So if FiOS or cable is not available the only option is USPS and print newspapers.
Guest says:
Feb 8, 2014
I am on a very limited income and DSL fits my budget. FIOS if far too expensive for the same service. I don't watch TV and don't stream videos. I don't download huge files so why is it forced upon us at 6x the price?