Verizon says it has no plans for usage-based pricing; FiOS value questioned

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) spokesman Bill Kula says that the carrier has "no plans to implement usage-based pricing for our fixed broadband customers," according to a Multichannel News article. That puts Verizon at odds with AT&T, which plans to start data caps May 2.

In more ominous Verizon news, a story in Bloomberg Businessweek questions whether the carrier's highly touted FiOS service "operates in the black" and points to a recent asset sale to Frontier (NYSE: FTR) as evidence that "FiOS may actually lose money." Certainly Frontier seems to think so, since it's shutting down the service faster than a 16th seed is shut down by the top seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Businessweek story said that Verizon is standing by a statement from CEO Ivan Seidenberg in January that the service is doing just fine and "we could easily double the amount of video customers we have on that platform over the next two to three years, and we're getting good margins on it."

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