Verizon, FiOS losing Comcast war; will cut over 10,000 jobs: reports
"Verizon has been overspending"
Verizon, FiOS losing Comcast war; will cut over 10,000 jobs: reports
Joseph N. DiStefano
Verizon plans to keep cutting jobs, company officials told investors in a conference call after posting disappointing q4 sales and earnings. Bloomberg story here.
UPDATE: Re jobs: "We said we saw job reductions of 13,000 in 2008 and 13,000 in 2009 in our traditional landline business, and we anticipate a similar number of job reductions in 2010," Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni told me. "These are across-the-board, not specific to any geographic area, and related to our traditional landline business. There were approximately 117,000 employees in our Wireline business segment as of the end of 2009," and another 106,000 in Verizon Wireless and other units.
EARLIER: Verizon's FiOS video service had its worst quarter since early 2007, adding just 153,000 customers, noted Deutsche Bank analyst Doug Michelson in a report to clients. "Verizon has been overspending to acquire FiOS customers," Michelson wrote. Verizon is charging phone-video-Internet customers $140/month, which "demonstrates the lack fo a price war.... Cable continues to gain share due to faster speeds than DSL."
He adds, "We believe the slowdown in FiOS video net adds is a positive for Pay TV stocks, as it demonstrates competition fears were overdone."
Verizon still shows healthy wireless (mobile phone) gains, noted Craig Moffett at Bernstein Research. But trends in Verizon's wire-based businesses "are only getting worse."
Comment removed.
Does anyone love Verizon? Remember, these are the ones who had telephone monopoly for 100 years and price gauged us for all of that time. I want to see FIOS come into my area (Burlington County) only so Comcast has some real competition - I've been waiting for years but Verizon has not acted.— BFlint- If Fios was in my area i can honestly say 95% of my block would switch that same day— qwerty83
- Comcast terminated my internet service because they said downloading to much used "more then my fair share of bandwidth". The real reason was because Comcast's infrastructure is old and outdated and cannot handle the NEW BANDWIDTH demands with HD services and increased internet speeds. So they SHAFT THEIR CUSTOMERS by resticting their bandwidth use. I signed up for Verizon High Speed Internet and have NEVER had a compaint about my usage in 2 years now. THANK YOU COMCAST. You did me a favor you greedy incompetent jerks!— Grapost
- Actually, if you read the release it has more to do with people going without traditional land line phones than any battle with Comcast, FiOS is still bringing in thousands of new customers per month....but I guess with Comcast running the show in Philly, why worry about facts.— Thegreat1
I LOVE MY FiOS!! !— West_Philly_Native- still happy with my fos after a year plus....of course im now addicted to my dvr too...how did i watch sports with 2 young kids in the house before my dvr? i really went to fios for spite with comcast— jim715
Perhaps the author of this so-called article does not realize that the "war" is for video & internet, not landlines which is the division in question that is facing the layoffs (as the Bloomberg article clearly states in the first sentence).— kw802- I called Verizon support the other day, not only were they helpful but they spoke perfect English. Comcast not so much— MikeD930
- I don't hate anyone. I had Comcast and switched to Fios. My service has been very good and I saved money. What is just as important is the fact that Verizon Fios offers competition to Comcast. Competition with Dish Network, Direct TV and Verizon Fios has forced Comcast to improve. What ever you think of their customer service now, it used to be much worse.— Z-Man
- Having had both Comcast and Fios for both internet and TV I have to say, there is absolutely no difference in quality of connection, picture, customer service, billing, etc. They are exactly the same in every way. I'm on Fios now. It's the same as the Comcast I had for 8-9 years. No big deal. If you think Fios is "better" you are mistaken, it is identical. It's just a different company delivering the same product.— sjjr
- I love my FiOS. I would pay a premium for it, if necessary (but it's a bit cheaper than Comcast.)
- I am not a hater, but competition for Comcast is long overdue. The entrenched political interests involving Comcast are distinctly anti-competitive. These interests will do anything to bring down Verizon if Verizon doesn't "pay to play", which I understand they do not do. Write to FCC re Comcast's monopoly on media in this City. (I currently have Fios cable and phone service; TV sevice not yet available in Center City (surprised about the delay?). Finally, if Verizon were a casino, TV service would have been bought and paid for years ago.— StephenPHL
- I wanted FIOS but it's not availabl in my area yet...I will be switching to FIOS when I can— drjimmy
- I have no problem with Comcast, my service is fine, and the bill is not that much, just a simple and honest opinion.— Capsulef
