Verizon at Home

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My family and I just returned from an island vacation where we stayed in the middle of the woods.  Everything was wonderful, but it took less than an hour to realize something was missing – a wired or wireless broadband connection in our rental.

Had it not been our vacation and a time to unwind, the situation would have been unimaginable to a family used to a super-fast, reliable FiOS Internet connection at our home that we use for online gaming on multiple devices, downloading data, uploading photos and streaming high-def video.

Away from the rental, we took advantage of WiFi connections and made do, but the lack of wired broadband renewed our appreciation for something we take for granted.

My recent awkward technology situation made yesterday’s report by the FCC about wireline broadband all the more interesting to me in terms of reflecting on how consumers enjoy the benefits of broadband service.

In the study of the nation’s largest ISPs, the FCC reported a lot of intriguing data.  For example, when it comes to sustained download speeds, the FCC said that on average, during peak periods, DSL-based services delivered download speeds that were 82 percent of advertised speeds, cable-based services delivered 93 percent of advertised speeds, and fiber-to-the-home services like FiOS delivered 114 percent of advertised speeds.

Those numbers represent a marked improvement over results from a study in 2009 that found most consumers only getting about 50 percent of their ISP’s advertised download speeds.

The test results also showed the actual speed performance of each ISP as a percentage of its advertised speeds during a 24-hour period and during the peak usage hours between 7 and 11 p.m.

One aspect of the report particularly favorable to FiOS showed that our fiber-optic service recorded the 24-hour average download that most exceeded its advertised speed and demonstrated the smallest dip during the peak Internet usage hours.

Average download speeds as a percentage of those advertised were the highest for Verizon FiOS and lowest for Northeast competitor Cablevision.  In fact, the study revealed that FiOS Internet upstream speeds average four to six times faster than those of the closest tested competitor.

The report also concluded that fiber-to-the-home has the best performance of latency and demonstrates that FiOS service loaded web pages faster than any tested ISP.

We’re gratified with the results of the FCC test as it comes on the heels of the recent PC Mag.com Reader’s Choice Award for Internet service providers in which Verizon’s FiOS Internet service earned top billing for the sixth year in a row.

Regardless of how you use wired broadband, it’s become increasingly apparent how critical it is for consumers to have a reliably fast downstream and upstream connection as more and more households are connected with multiple devices.

Whether you’re a hardcore broadband user, or just getting into using broadband, we think you’ll find this latest study of interest.

And if you’re in the midst of sorting out what broadband can do for you, take heed at the advice offered by the FCC in its consumer guide to broadband services that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said would help make choosing the right broadband service a little bit easier.

We plan to remain the industry leader when it comes to consumer broadband.  In the months ahead, we’ll continue to report on what we’re doing to innovate and further differentiate Verizon services from competitors.