Battery

Verizon says Fios service in the future could hit 400Mbps

News.com sat down with Verizon CTO Mark Wegleitner to talk about the company’s strategy and its plans for internet services in the future. Questions on the agenda centered on Verizon’s Fios service that delivers TV and broadband services to home over fiber optic networks and more.

Wegleitner was asked about how he feelsas a network provider about slowing down peer-to-peer traffic. He skirted answering the question posed to him and merely said that it’s rational to need a network management plan, yet you have to ensure the capabilities of applications. Basically Wegleitner says slowing down one application makes others work better, but you have to ensure peer-to-peer works for those using it legitimately. The answer between the lines appears to be that peer-to-peer traffic shouldn’t be blocked, but slowing it down is understandable.

In talking about Verizon’s Fios services, Wegleitner says it is on schedule to meet the stated goal of 18 million homes wired for Fios by 2010. The current 50Mbps speed offered by Fios is capable of being fully consumed according to Wegleitner with the proliferation of multiple internet connected devices in today’s home from notebooks and computers to Blu-ray players and game consoles.

Wegleitner says that with the current Passive Optical Network specification being used with its Fios service it can offer up to 100Mbps speeds to a home. Wegleitner says that Verizon is looking to deploy GPON technology as an enhancement to its current fiber technology. Using the new specification 200Mbps to a home will be possible with a maximum data rate of 400Mbps.

When asked if Verizon plans to keep building itsFios fiber optic network after it hits the projected 18 million home mark in 2010, Wegleitner says that there is “more gas” in the Fios engine. However, he points out those rural homes will be the ones least likely to get service. To be able to provide fast data speeds in rural locations Verizon is betting on LTE 4G technology.