Verizon is giving its customers a taste of à la carte, not in the programming they can choose for their FiOS TV service, but in the FiOS services and bundles for which they can contract.
The telco's new strategy will allow customers to load up on, say, high-speed FiOS Internet service without having to take a mandatory FiOS TV level of service.
"For some customers, broadband Internet speed is more important than a lot of TV options; for others, robust TV rules the household; and some customers want it all," said Mike Ritter, Verizon chief marketing officer for consumer and business services. "Now, our FiOS customers have more options for personalizing their Internet or TV services to satisfy all their needs."
The flexibility does come with a price tag, however; mixing personalized service will have a premium of $5 to $10 a month.
Verizon said consumers could, for example, opt for a triple-play bundle that includes 15 Mbps broadband, and bump it to 35 Mbps for an extra $5 per month.
Giving consumers more options in their service choices likely will help boost Verizon FiOS penetration.
COO Lowell McAdam earlier this month said the company is hoping to get its fiber service past 20 million homes in the next couple of years; it currently has a footprint of 16 million homes with a subscriber base of 3.7 million FiOS TV and 4.3 million FiOS Internet customers.
McAdam, who is set to take over for Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg later this year, said the telco will continue to take a cautious approach to continued buildouts, and will focus on winning more MDU subscriptions.
For more:
- see this release
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