NTCA's The New Edge » FiOS

XBox 360 to Offer FiOS, Xfinity On-Demand Content

Jesse Ward — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:00:11 +0000

As had been rumored for some time, Microsoft announced yesterday that it will expand the video content available over its Xbox Live system to pay-TV subscribers in most major markets. Microsoft has deals in place with nearly 40 entertainment providers including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon FiOS, as well as Bravo, ESPN, HBO GO and Syfy. This is in addition to the inherent gaming services and previously announced content from Hulu Plus, Netflix and Google’s YouTube which are available on the Xbox.

Pay-TV subscribers will need to authenticate in order to access the content through the Xbox system. In general, users also will need to subscribe to video and broadband services from their traditional service provider (in other words, cord cutting is not an option), and subscribe to a $60 per year Xbox Live Gold membership. (Microsoft confirmed today that only a small amount of content will be available on the Xbox without authentication and Xbox Gold status.)

Analysts had anticipated a game-changing announcement, speculating that Microsoft would utilize its gaming system as a tuner to deliver live video feeds from cable channels. Analysts were expecting that Microsoft would announce a new model, a virtual cable operator offering services directly to the public and breaking up channels into a la carte offerings.

However, the software giant and its partners did not go that far; instead, subscribers will only be able to use the Xbox to access a TV Everywhere-type service, a value-add to their traditional Pay-TV service. Nevertheless, this announcement is one more step in the traditional pay-TV provider’s migration away from a proprietary set-top.

Although the Microsfot release lists a variety of cable channels, as a subscriber, what content you will have access to depends upon your video provider. For Comcast and Verizon, they are offering content on the Xbox which is already available on a variety of mobile and in-home devices. For instance, on the Xbox service, Comcast will offer access to its existing on-demand content library, while Verizon’s FiOS customers will have access to the limited channels already contained in the service provider’s established TV Everywhere package.

So what’s in this for subscribers? Well, of particular note, Microsoft has said that it intends to incorporate Kinect functionality into the service, which will allow users to quickly search for content using vocal and physical commands.

“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.”

As a related aside, back in October 2010, AT&T announced that its subscribers could utilize the Xbox as a fully functional set-top box – one step further than its competitors add-on offerings discussed above. However, DSL Reports notes that the telco is changing course and will now require a user to subscribe to the Xbox Live Gold level service in order to continue using the game system as a set-top. AT&T will offer users a $60 service credit to offset the cost of the first year of membership.

Verizon Offers $20 FiOS Value Plan

Jesse Ward — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:39:27 +0000

Tech blog Broadband Reports calls our attention to a new Verizon promo, offering select users 3 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream FiOS service for just $20 a month. The FTTH offer requires that the user also bundle traditional landline phone service, but the price is guaranteed for one year, without a contract, and Verizon is throwing in free installation.

It’s a clever idea designed to motivate legacy DSL users to upgrade their service, and entice “lite” customers to retain their FTTH service.

“We introduced the 3 Mpbs offer in late spring,” Verizon’s Bob Elek said to Broadband Reports. “We’re using the 3 Mbps FiOS Internet offer principally to migrate our 1 Mbps high-speed Internet (DSL) customers and as a retention offer.”

For more, see this online promo.

Frontier Moves to Exit FiOS TV Business

Jesse Ward — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:50:36 +0000

Frontier is taking steps to withdraw from the FiOS video business. Last July, the Connecticut-based company acquired wireline assets in 14 states from Verizon, including 100,000 FiOS customers. Frontier recently notified Oregon regulators that it plans to opt out of franchise agreements in McMinnville, Dundee, Newburg and Wilsonville, Ore.

This follows closely on the heels of a Frontier announcement that it plans to hike FiOS TV rates for existing customers. Although Frontier has yet to enact a new rate structure, it speaks volumes about the company’s commitment to FiOS video service.

Frontier is downplaying the impact on existing customers, saying the video service cutoff is months away and it has plenty of other packages it can offer them, including DirecTV service.

Spokesman Steve Crosby said the service provider is not exiting the TV business, but rather evaluating its options. “I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion yet,” he told the Seattle Times, adding that “we are still analyzing the business and figuring out what our cost structure is and the best way to treat our customers.”

For more, see this Seattle Times post.

Verizon Launches 150 Mbps FiOS Tier

Jesse Ward — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:48:01 +0000

Verizon today debuted a new FiOS Internet package that delivers 150 Mbps downstream and 35 Mbps upstream — although at around $200 per month the service will likely have limited appeal.

The company has begun to roll out the ultra-high-speed service to the majority of the more than 12.5 million homes that the FiOS network passes, and will make the service available to Verizon FiOS small-business customers by the end of the year.

The residential service is available in four different offers. FiOS Internet with phone service and a one-year contract is $194.95 per month, while FiOS Internet with phone service on a month-to-month basis is $209.99. FiOS Internet with a one-year contract without phone service is $199.99 per month, while FiOS Internet without voice month-to-month is $214.99.

In addition, Verizon will charge an activation fee of $49.99. Customers who opt for a month-to-month contract also are charged a $79.99 installation fee.

For more, see this Verizon release.

Verizon FiOS Launches Flex View for ‘VoD Everywhere’

Jesse Ward — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:50:27 +0000

Last week Verizon FiOS TV launched Flex View, a new value-added service which allows the telco’s video subscribers to rent or buy video-on-demand (VoD) programming and watch it outside the home on a variety of devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets.

The service launched November 10 in most FiOS TV markets and will available across Verizon’s FiOS footprint by the end of the month.

Initially users can download for purchase or rent more than 1,400 movie titles on Flex View, with the amount of content growing to 2,000 titles by year-end.

In 2011, the telco plans to triple the number of titles to more than 6,000, including TV shows for rent or purchase. The service also will be expanded so that FiOS subscribers also can utilize Flex View to access their personal photos video, music and other content.

Subscribers can authorize Flex View on up to five devices per account, including mobile devices, PCs or laptops, and FiOS TV set-top boxes (all set-top boxes in the home count collectively as one device). Once a subscriber purchases or rents a title, it automatically becomes available for viewing on each of the authorized devices. Customers who opt to rent a title have up to 30 days following the purchase to play the movie, and will have 24-48 hours to watch it.

“Verizon is taking the triple play to the triple screen, making on-the-go video programming quick and easy,” said Shawn Strickland, vice president of consumer strategy and planning for Verizon. “This is a valuable extension of our FiOS TV VoD service, enabling customers to rent or purchase video programming and enjoy it anytime, anywhere – even outside of Verizon service areas.”

For more, see this release.

MaxGO.com on Verizon FiOS

Steve Fravel — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:43:17 +0000

Verizon FiOS TV is again the first in adding a premium on-demand service to its TV Everywhere line. MAXGo.com (Cinemax) — the sibling of HBOGo.com that launched in February — is now available to PC and mobile screens. Subscribers of Verizon’s FiOS service must also subscribe to Cinemax. The MAXGo.com choice provides up to 700 hours of online content.

Verizon Advances Video Agenda with Cloud TV, iPad and FiOS TV Online

Jesse Ward — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:57:20 +0000

Verizon is extending its FiOS video service beyond the living room to tablets, PCs and mobile devices.

Late last week Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir hosted an event in New York City and offered a sneak peek of new features coming soon for FiOS customers, as well as some of the company’s long-term plans for FiOS TV. Verizon plans to offer live video programming as well as video-on-demand services to new platforms.

The service provider announced several new initiatives which rely on the concept of “cloud TV.” Flex View gives customers the ability to rent, purchase and watch video-on-demand programming on FiOS TV, the PC and select mobile devices. Flex View will initially support RIM’s BlackBerry Storm 2, the Droid 2 and Droid X and all Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, with more devices following soon. When it launches this fall, Verion plans to offer 3,000 movie titles, with rental and purchase prices ranging from $2 to $18. TV programming will follow soon after. Videos can be streamed over Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G.

Instead of local storage, Verizon will store customers’ video libraries in the cloud. Verizon’s Media Manager cloud application will provide remote streaming access to purchased VoD files, as well as personal video, photo and music files. Any content stored on the cloud can be viewed or listened to anywhere with an Internet connection. At launch, customers will be given 70 GB of allocated storage.

Verizon also is developing an application for Apple’s iPad which will likely be extended to other tablets. The “What’s Hots” app will allow the iPad to function as a mobile TV, essentially turning the device into a “software set-top box” which streams live cable programming. Instead of a traditional media guide, the application will feature a mosaic of popular channels which subscribers can browse through.

Initially, the app will work only inside the customer’s home over a WiFi connection, and allow FiOS TV customers to watch what they want on their iPad screen, while someone else in the home might be watching a different show via Verizon’s traditional set-top box. It will capture the channel as an IP stream being delivered through Verizon’s fiber network. The long-term vision is for consumers to utilize the iPad application outside the home, streaming FiOS TV wherever there is WiFi.

While the application was functioning for the live demo, it’s still under development, and there’s a long road ahead before it can be released to FiOS customers. Most importantly, each content provider has to agree to allow their content to play on this additional screen, and Verizon is hoping that it will not have to pony up additional compensation.

Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting have both expressed an interest in the TV Anywhere strategy.

In related news, Verizon announced last Thursday that it will be making more popular programming from Time Warner available online in an on-demand fashion. Verizon, which has been offering online content from TNT and TBS since June, will now offer shows from Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and truTV. Programming will be available on “FiOS TV Online” within 24 hours after an episode airs on live television.

For more, see Broadcasting & Cable, Reuters and PC Magazine.

Verizon Trials GPON for FiOS

Jesse Ward — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:42:42 +0000

Verizon Communication delivered broadband speeds of almost 1 Gbps to a customer in Taunton, Mass., in June as part of tests of its FiOS fiber-to-the-home network. In order to keep pace with technological demands, Verizon is migrating its existing BPON platform to GPON, which enables total throughput of 2.4 Gbps downstream and 1.2 Gbps upstream.

This test successfully demonstrated the ability to serve customers on the FiOS network with Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) service. Verizon said this opens the door to a wide array of consumer and business services including 3DTV, multi-player gaming, desktop virtualization, remote storage and wireless backhaul.

For the trial, conducted at an existing FiOS business customer location, Verizon deployed a second ONT to the customer, and provisioned it for GPON service. The customer’s existing FiOS service was left in place, and according to Verizon, showed no degradation in the voice, data or video services during the test. In this real world setting, the throughput speeds were measured at 925 Mbps to a local server and more than 800 Mbps to the regional test speed servers located more than 400 miles away.

“This kind of bandwidth capacity will provide Verizon the ability to continue to meet FiOS customers’ needs by offering more bandwidth to support services such as 3DTV, ultra HDTV, multiplayer gaming and HD video conferencing,” said Brian Whitton, executive director of Verizon’s technology group.

“This trial demonstrated that the current architecture has sufficient headroom to allow for a progressive increase in capacity as needed by our residential and business customers on our current GPON platform, and validates our decision to support both residential and business services on the same platform,” said Vincent O’Byrne, director of Verizon’s technology organization, who managed the trial.

For more, view the release.

Motorola and Verizon Partner on Tablet for FiOS TV

Jesse Ward — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:48:28 +0000

Motorola is collaborating with Verizon on an Android-based digital tablet device that will allow users to watch FiOS television on it, according to a report in the Financial Times that has been widely quoted in other tech media outlets.

The device is said to have a 10-inch screen and is expected to closely tie to Verizon’s FiOS digital pay-TV service. It could launch as early as this fall in the United States.

Motorola, who also supplies set-top boxes for Verizon, hopes that by working with a TV provider “it will not be seen as upsetting the lucrative business of pay TV,” according to the Times article.

The tablet’s planned integration with TV is a key competitive advantage against rival developers. Motorola hopes to compete head-on with Apple’s iPad by addressing perceived weaknesses in Apple’s product and offering additional features, including support for Adobe Flash, rear- and front-facing cameras for video calling, and built-in mobile hotspot capability.

For more, read the Financial Times article.

Verizon Extends ‘FiOS without Contract’ Nationwide

Jesse Ward — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:55:53 +0000

Verizon has extended FiOS without a contract nationwide, offering new subscribers FiOS TV, Internet and digital voice bundles on a month-to-month basis at the same prices previously available only to customers with two-year contracts, with guaranteed pricing for one year and no early-termination fee. For customers who want two-year price protection, Verizon has expanded its 30-day FiOS Worry-Free Guarantee.

The month-to-month option and Worry-Free Guarantee expand upon offers introduced earlier this year in Florida and Pennsylvania and that have met with very favorable customer response.

The no-contract offering starts at $99.99 per month before taxes, fees and customer-selected service additions. Verizon has previously offered month-to-month bundles, although for $20 to $30 higher per month than bundles with the two-year contract.

The strategy is clearly designed to entice cable subscribers to switch to Verizon’s services. “We’ve listened closely to the market and heard potential customers say that FiOS offers faster, more reliable broadband service and crystal-clear TV pictures in any conditions, but that they want time to consider their switch from cable,” said Mike Ritter, Verizon chief marketing officer for consumer wireline and business services. “We want customers to know that the shift to FiOS is the best move they can make; that a two-year commitment provides them with price protection for their home-entertainment needs; and that our month-to-month pricing option and Worry-Free Guarantee help reduce anxiety from their decision.”

For more, see this press release.