Verizon FiOS Service Unlikely in Near Future

Earlier this year, both Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt and Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll reached out to Verizon officials in an attempt to get the company to bring all-fiber FiOS internet and cable service to their cities.

However, it appears unlikely that Verizon will be expanding that service to either city in the foreseeable future.

Driscoll has contacted Verizon officials several times to make the case for FiOS service in Salem.

In her most recent letter, she pointed out that 113 communities in Massachusetts, including several surrounding Salem, have FiOS service.

“In order to grow and sustain our economy and improve the lives of our residents, we need a world-class communications infrastructure,” Driscoll wrote. She said she has seen how consumers have benefited from commercial choice in those communities where Verizon has provided competition for Comcast.

In his letter to Comcast, Bettencourt pointed to many of the reasons Verizon should bring FiOS to Peabody, touting the city as home to a thriving business community which employs thousands of local residents.

“To help continue Peabody’s economic expansion and to improve overall quality of life for its residents, we need a world-class communications infrastructure,” Bettencourt wrote. “Businesses benefit from truly high speed connections to suppliers and customers.”

However, earlier this year, Stan Usovicz, the former Salem mayor and Verizon’s regional director for government affairs, did respond to Driscoll’s and Bettencourt’s letters.

In the letter, Usovicz stated that Verizon does not have plans to expand FiOS to new communities at this time and is focused on completing the build out of the FiOS networks where they have contractual obligations through licenses.