Verizon Completes Build-Out that Started Four Years Ago

A license agreement signed in 2008 has at last been brought to completion as Verizon informed the town it had finished laying the infrastructure to offer FiOS television and Internet services to all single family homes in Wayland.

“It marks the achievement by Verizon of a major milestone,” said Phil Radoff, chair of Wayland's Cable Advisory Committee.

Radoff explained that most of Wayland's 4,500 households that receive cable television have had access to FiOS services for the past several years.

Still, it means that work done by the Cable Advisory Committee four years ago has now reached a sort of culmination.

"Verizon was interested in coming in, and the town was interested in bringing in some competition for Comcast," Radoff explained. "Prior to Verizon’s entry into the field, we were a one provider town. It was a mutual interest. They were looking for additional revenue sources and utilization of their FiOS capacity, and the town was interested in having a second provider for cable television."

According to Phil Santoro, a spokesman with Verizon, the company began building its FiOS network in Massachusetts in 2005. When that work began, Verizon conducted analyses of construction logistics, the marketplace, workforce readiness, and other factors before entering into agreements with individual towns.

Santoro said customer feedback in Wayland has been "overwhelmingly positive."

Santoro also explained that 100 percent completion means that all single family homes in Wayland, as well as all multi-tenant dwellings where the owner provided access to the property, have now been outfitted for FiOS service. Under the agreement with the town, Verizon does not have to provide access to area businesses, but Santoro said his company does regularly explore that possibility.

According to a press release from Town Administrator Fred Turkington, Verizon is about six months behind schedule in terms of completing the build-out. Residents interested in using FiOS should contact Verizon directly.

Editor's Note: The article has been updated from the original with an updated quote.