Verizon's FIOS to deliver "all" Internet video to TV
updated 12:40 pm EDT, Wed September 27, 2006
FIOS Delivering All Video
The sheer bandwidth available through Verizon's FIOS fiber optic network has already let the Internet provider serve both 30-megabit Internet access and HDTV through a single cable. In speaking to DSL Prime analyst Dave Burstein, however, sources have learned that Verizon's future plans are considerably more ambitious. It intends to give access not just to movies and TV signals through its set-top IPTV boxes, but to every freely available video on the Internet, according to ZDNet. While details of how the system itself will work are largely a mystery, Burstein says that it will in part rely on a greatly improved connection speed. Using BPON (Broadband Passive Optical Networks), FIOS will be capable of 100Mbps downloads and 30Mbps uploads per user - enough to stream any Internet-based video as long as the provider can deliver it quickly enough. Verizon is approximately 12 to 18 months away from making the service a reality, writes Burstein, and even anticipates 250Mbps speeds in the next few years.
