Verizon Earns First Industry Certification for Delivering True Fiber Optics All the Way to the Home

NEW YORK - Verizon's advanced fiber-optic broadband network is the first ever to be certified by the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council, ensuring consumers that Verizon's network provides fiber all the way to customers' homes and offices.   The council made the announcement today as it launched its new certification program.

Other network providers, while claiming to use fiber, actually have networks that still rely in part on copper or coaxial cable.  Such networks are only as good as the weakest link, while fiber optics all the way to the home is the state of the art in network technology.  Verizon is the only major telecom company installing fiber-optic links directly to customers’ homes on a mass scale across the country.

In accepting the certification on behalf of the company, Verizon Telecom Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Bob Ingalls said that the FTTH Council’s certification mark helps consumers make smart decisions when choosing a voice, broadband or television services provider.

“Consumers are being approached by a variety of providers who claim to offer fiber-optic services,” Ingalls said, “but in most cases they’re offering a network that’s either only partially fiber or one that stops far away from a customer’s home.  But not all fiber is created equal. It’s important that buyers know who offers the true benefits of an all-fiber network that extends all the way to their homes.  The differences are significant, and the FTTH Council’s certification program will help consumers make educated choices.”

Joe Savage, president of the FTTH Council, said, “Today’s homeowners rank broadband access as more and more important to their lifestyle. Many networks claim to be fiber-optic networks, but only a fiber-to-the-home network – such as the one being deployed by Verizon -- delivers fiber performance to the consumer and the community. 

“Having an all-optical access path means that consumers have today’s best capabilities for high-speed data download; high-definition entertainment options such as video on demand, TV on demand and online gaming; and home networking. Consumers are also future-proofed for next-generation super-definition movies and emerging mega applications,” he said.

Verizon’s fiber-to-the-home program is already well under way across parts of 16 states and is on track to pass 6 million homes and businesses this year.  The company sells ultra-fast FiOS broadband services on the network, as well as all-digital, advanced FiOS TV services – competing head-to-head with incumbent monopoly cable-TV companies, which do not deliver fiber directly to the home.

“Some of our cable-TV competitors like to jump on the bandwagon and portray their networks as having the same type of fiber and similar capabilities as our network,” said Ingalls.  “The truth is their so-called fiber networks still utilize coaxial cable from a node in the neighborhood to deliver services into the home, severely limiting what they can deliver.  They don’t even come close to what we’re doing with fiber optics all the way to the home, as well as the products we’re offering over it. The bottom line is the benefits of fiber stop where the fiber stops.”

The FTTH Council’s Savage added, “Broadband access is complex, and some network operators who have fiber somewhere in their networks claim that their access networks deliver the performance of all-optical fiber access. But they don’t.  The council’s certification program will help consumers confirm that their optical-fiber broadband access extends all the way to the home.”

The FTTH Council, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001, educates, promotes and accelerates fiber-to-the-home deployment and the resulting quality-of-life enhancements. The council is made up of about 800 members that range from telecom equipment manufacturers to educational institutions to municipalities.

A recent survey conducted by RVA Render, Vanderslice & Associates found that fiber-connected homes make a difference in the overall value of a home.   The study found that those consumers in the housing market who had narrowed their choices down to two homes and were looking at one with a fiber connection and one without would on average be willing to pay an additional $4,318 per home -- which represents nearly a 1 percent value-added amenity.

Ingalls said that consumers, to determine if they are receiving the full benefits of fiber to the home, should ask their broadband and television services providers if they are certified by the FTTH Council.   Other questions to ask include:

• Where does the fiber in your network end?

• What kind of wire does the signal hit when the fiber stops?
• What speed and capacity limits occur when the fiber ends?
• What are both the maximum downstream and upstream speeds on your network?
• Is it really an all-fiber network? Why do you claim it is?

Under the council’s certification program, Verizon will produce and distribute decals that fiber- connected customers can place on their homes, certifying that they are served by fiber optics.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, serving nearly 55 million customers nationwide.  Verizon Business operates one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks.  Verizon Telecom is deploying the nation’s most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers.  Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 252,000 and generates annual consolidated operating revenues of approximately $90 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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