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FiOS TV? Mayor?
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tostada View Drop Down
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: FiOS TV? Mayor?
    Posted: November-26-2007 at 3:43pm

Dear Mayor Mark,

I'm been told by Verizon customer support that they are waiting on local contracts with the City before they can offer FiOS TV in Fontana. I thought that the California Franchise eliminated any local red-tape, so I was hopeful that you could shed some light on the process, if indeed, we've waiting on something at the City level.

And on a related note, do you know if Verizon is deploying FiOS to the existing condos/townhomes in Heritage? I've got a friend living in Laing's First Edition on West Liberty Parkway, and there are Verizon trucks across the street, but as of yet, no indication that they are coming to his condo.

thanks!!!
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Posts: 347 		  Quote marknuaimi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-03-2007 at 8:22pm

Sorry it took so long to get a response.  The following is an email between the folks from Verizon and our city staff ... I guess it takes a while to refute bad information.

Mayor Mark 

From: scott.holbrook@verizon.com [mailto:scott.holbrook@verizon.com]
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 2:26 PM
To: Jeff McPherson
Cc: gary.george@verizon.com
Subject: Re: FIOS & Video Services

Jeff,

From a contractual standpoint, there is nothing preventing Verizon from offering video services in Fontana and I apologize if the customer was told that.  We do have the ability to serve your city under AB 2987.  However, from a technical standpoint, it is impossible for us to provide FiOS TV there at this time because video equipment will not be installed in the Etiwanda wirecenter (serves your city) until 2009.  In the meantime, since FiOS data and voice capability is available now, the customer can bundle that with our DirecTV offering if they choose to do so.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

--------------------------------------------------
Scott P. Holbrook
Verizon - Cable Franchise Manager
600 Hidden Ridge  M/C: E02E67
Irving, TX 75038-3809
Office:  972-718-5733
Cell:  214-770-9830
Fax:  972-719-7948
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-04-2007 at 8:39am
Originally posted by marknuaimi

Sorry it took so long to get a response.  The
following is an email between the folks from Verizon and our city staff ... I
guess it takes a while to refute bad information.


Mayor Mark 




Thanks for getting to the bottom of this. I never trust customer service
people so I'm thankful we have you as a resource.

Ouch!!! 2009... I don't think I can take TWC for another year! Given that
you've posted the Verizon person's e-mail, I think I'll send him a note
and make my unhappiness known! ;)

Any info on the FiOS to the condos?

thanks!
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Posts: 347 		  Quote marknuaimi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-06-2007 at 9:59am

Here is some additional information for folks ...

Subject: Re: FiOS TV in Fontana

Jeff,

Scott Holbrook asked me to reply to your email.

I'm really pleased you enjoy the FiOS Internet connection and I wish we could deliver FiOS TV to you and your neighbors sooner. Unfortunately, one of our biggest challenges is rolling out network fast enough to meet the pent-up demand for a new choice in programming providers.

Thanks to the state-issued video franchise we received earlier this year, we have permission to provide FiOS TV in the 10 percent of Fontana we serve with phone and Internet service. But there are several other hurdles we have to clear before we can offer video service to customers who have fiber connections.

Most importantly, we also have to upgrade the local central office (also known as a wirecenter) with the appropriate equipment to process and distribute the video signals to customers in the area. As you can imagine, it is no small investment. You are right in saying that in many instances FiOS TV becomes available about six months after the Internet service but it is not always the case. There are several Verizon wirecenters in California right now that are FiOS data capable, but have not had the video equipment installed yet.

For marketing purposes and to ensure that we serve the maximum number of customers as soon as possible, our goal is to keep the FiOS TV area contiguous within the territorty we serve. Right now, Ontario is the closest city to you that has video service. Rancho Cucamonga doesn't have fiber yet but as we expand into that community it will make sense from a economic point of view to add video capabilities to the wirecenter that serves the parts of Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana including your neighborhood.

I'm sorry for the frustration you feel. I wish we had an unlimited budget and an army of installers so we could deploy video to all of California at once, but that is just not possible. As Scott mentioned in his email to the city, Verizon has partnered with DirecTV to provide a bundled discount to those customers who can't get FiOS TV yet. I hope you'll find that a good alternative to Time Warner until we can bring FiOS TV to your neighborhood in 2009.

Thanks again for your interest in the service and your patience, and please let me know if you have any questions.


Jonathan Davies
Verizon Media Relations
(805) 372-6969
jon.davies@verizon.com
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-06-2007 at 10:25am

I've been corresponding with these folks since your first post and I received the above e-mail plus a couple from other executives at Verizon. It's always a pleasant surprise when a large corporation takes the time to respond.

Jon's e-mail does allude to the problem being with there being no FiOS deployment in RC as of yet.

It's no secret that Verizon has been having a lot of difficulty with the City of Rancho Cucamonga over the placement of their FiOS boxes, and the unusual permit restrictions they are placing on them. Given that the Etiwanda wirecenter is in Rancho, one could infer that the significant delay in Verizon upgrading that particular wirecenter is a direct result of the Rancho difficulties. Had Verizon been able to deploy FiOS in Rancho at the same time as Fontana (actually is was slated for before us), my guess is that we wouldn't be looking at the same long delay. Said another way, if there were Rancho customers already attached to the Etiwanda wirecenter, there would be a strong business case for making TV available.

It's a shame for the residents of Fontana that we're now looking at another 12-24 months for the FiOS TV service. And if it does turn out that Rancho is partly to blame, I see the RC City Council getting an angry e-mail from this Fontana resident!

I will continue my correspondence with the Verizon people. If anything, I hope that they perhaps reconsider their deployment process, and make sure that both services are made available when they "light up" and area.

Thanks again Mr. Mayor for getting the ball rolling on this.

 
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Posts: 80 		  Quote PanoramaGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-13-2007 at 3:42pm
tostada, have you heard any more information on this? Although I've been quite happy with TWC, both for TV and Internet, I've heard great things about the FiOS service and be willing to try it out. I'm not willing to go to DirectTV. Those dishes are not only ugly, but don't perform well during the winds we get in the winter.
Michael
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-13-2007 at 4:03pm

Originally posted by PanoramaGuy

tostada, have you heard any more information on this? Although I've been quite happy with TWC, both for TV and Internet, I've heard great things about the FiOS service and be willing to try it out. I'm not willing to go to DirectTV. Those dishes are not only ugly, but don't perform well during the winds we get in the winter.

For FiOS Internet, that's already here in HR, and it's light years better than my TWC Internet connection. Bundled with my Verizon phone, I'm paying only $29.99/month for their 15/2 service. For about $20 more per month you can get their new 20/20 service.

As for FiOS TV, it does look like we're going to be waiting at least another 12 months. Because Fontana is split for telephone service, I've been told that Verizon didn't want to invest in the Fontana Central Office, and instead decided to use the Ediwanda CO to supply Fontana with FiOS TV.

Unless the Mayor and the residents put extreme pressure on Verizon, we're going to be waiting until the City of Rancho Cucamonga gets their act together and allows Verizon to proceed with FiOS deployments.

I'm sad... My friend in Ontario is enjoying FiOS TV now, and the picture quality looks much better than TWC or DirecTV.

 
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Posts: 80 		  Quote PanoramaGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December-13-2007 at 5:13pm
Hmmm . . . maybe I'll have to look into the internet service again. I tried their DSL service once, but could never get it to work. But for that price, FiOS internet sounds very good. Thanks for the info.
Michael
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Posts: 357 		  Quote Yvonne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-05-2008 at 3:05pm
Does anyone have any updates on when we might have the TV (I know it's only been 6 months)?  By the way, still lovin' our fiOS.
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-05-2008 at 3:56pm
Originally posted by Yvonne

Does anyone have any updates on when we might have the TV (I know it's only been 6 months)?  By the way, still lovin' our fiOS.
 
Well.... Here's the bad news...
 
Because Verizon is one of two providers in Fontana, they opted to not upgrade the Fontana wire center to support TV. Instead, they have chosen to provide those of us in Fontana with the TV service coming out of the Etiwanda Wire Center.
 
Because City of Rancho Cucamonga has continued to put up barriers to Verizon deploying FiOS, the City of RC is not on the 2008 roll-out plan, and is possibly slated for sometime in 2009. Since the Etiwanda wire center is in RC, Verizon is not going to upgrade it to support TV until they get RC done.
 
So at this point, I don't expect that we'll see Verizon TV until sometime in mid-late 2009. It's disappointing given that Verizon has just announced an additional 25 HD channels, and we're still stuck with TWC.
 
I've been e-mailing the Verizon folk, and will ping them again about TV. 
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Posts: 80 		  Quote PanoramaGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-05-2008 at 5:09pm
tostada, where did you get this information? This is, indeed, disappointing. A Verizon rep came by our house last week and said he expected FiOS TV in the next few months.
Michael
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Posts: 357 		  Quote Yvonne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-05-2008 at 5:18pm
Thanks for the info.  Well, we are happy with our DirecTV and our NFL package (not sure if we'd get that with fiOS).
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-05-2008 at 7:33pm
Originally posted by PanoramaGuy

tostada, where did you get this information? This is, indeed, disappointing. A Verizon rep came by our house last week and said he expected FiOS TV in the next few months.


I've been speaking with several Verizon executives for about a year. I've asked for an update and will post back when I know something more.

Yeah, about those Verizon reps... I wouldn't trust a word they say. My whole conversation started because I was told "six moths after Internet deployment" so I checked in Dec 07, and then got the disappointing info from these Verizon executives I contacted. Three months ago, nothing had changed.

Thank Rancho Cucamonga city council.

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Posts: 80 		  Quote PanoramaGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-05-2008 at 9:04pm

tostada, thanks for keeping us posted. You just saved me from making a terrible mistake and switching to FiOS. I guess I'll stick with TWC for now.
Michael
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-06-2008 at 7:39am
Originally posted by PanoramaGuy

<FONT style=": #999966">tostada, thanks for keeping us posted. You just saved me from making a terrible mistake and switching to FiOS. I guess I'll stick with TWC for now.



Even with no TV service, the FiOS Internet service is far and above the TWC cable modem service. Where the TWC Cable modem suffers from inconsistent performance, the FiOS service is always delivering what you've purchased. Also, if you have Verizon phone service, there is a $20 per month discount when they are bundled together. So, you may want to consider moving your internet service to FiOS and keep your TV with TWC.


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Posts: 9 		  Quote fastrx8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November-14-2008 at 3:39pm
Any update on the FIOS TV info?
The wind today has removed my Dishnetwork viewing privileges.


Edited by fastrx8 - November-14-2008 at 3:40pm
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Posts: 95 		  Quote tostada Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November-17-2008 at 9:34pm
I just asked my Verizon contact for an update, but my sense is that we're still waiting for the buildout to happen in City of Rancho Cucamonga before we'll see TV service here.
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