Verizon Rewires New York to Stay on the Cutting Edge

The New York Times technology writer Ken Belson recently wrote an interesting article about what Verizon is doing with its fiber-optic network in New York City. Part of an extensive project to replace Verizon's older copper network with the more durable fiber lines, the company will spend about $20 million by the end of 2010 to reach millions of homes from Florida to California. However, New York is their primary focus because residents there are the biggest buyers of video, Internet and phone services. Verizon plans to spend about $3 billion dollars to reach that market of customers.

Ken writes, "With such a high concentration of potential customers, competition is fierce—and Verizon has been losing ground. Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others are stealing about 1,000 Verizon phone customers a day, and their discounted services are making it hard for Verizon to win them back—another reason to get the fiber network up quickly."

The article goes into detail about the hurdles Verizon faces during the project and what it could mean to New York City residents in the future.  You can read more about the project in the full article Verizon Is Rewiring New York, Block by Block, in a Race for Survival.