FIOS TV: Tantalizing, if True

Joseph Laszlo | August 22, 2005, 05:16 PM

I'm starting to write a report on IPTV in the US, and so have naturally been increasingly interested in what Verizon's going to deliver with its FIOS service. Those who don't regularly read the estimable Broadband Reports (are there any of you?) should take a look at this posting.

Based on a focus group, this guy reports on the order of 300 channels, 3X more HD channels than Cablevision, and, wildest of all, a DVR capable of recording 6 channels at once and doing multi-room streaming to other set tops. And all this at a price to be cheaper than cable. And a 1 September launch date in certain towns on Long Island.

The 6 "tuner" DVR will be interesting to see how they pull off. If the video is delivered via IP then tuners aren't involved, and it should be a fairly feasible thing to do. But my sense was the early Fios TV offering would be traditional, not IP, video. Certainly would be something the cable guys won't be able to match for a while...

We recently published a piece on how IPTV is shaping up in Western Europe, available to clients of our Euro Digital Home service. And Jupiter Research clients should look for our piece on IPTV in North America around mid October. And Fios TV, maybe, sometime before then.

[UPDATE, 26 AUGUST] Let me just clarify here that I'm repeating/summarizing a posting that's 100% pure rumor, Verizon has said publicly that Keller, TX will be the first Fios TV market, and currently it lacks TV franchises anywhere on Long Island. So please, please, take with a big grain of salt. But a 6-program simultaneous recording DVR would still be a way cool thing, even if I can't think of any 6 simultaneously-on shows I'd ever want to watch.