American telecom carrier Verizon has installed almost 89 million feet, or nearly 17,000 miles, of fiber optic infrastructure in New York City.
The company’s fiber infrastructure — enough to stretch over six trips between New York and Los Angeles — in the city includes facilities for interoffice and backbone network equipment, fiber for large enterprises and its FiOS services for consumers and small businesses.
Unlike cable, FiOS utilizes light, the highest-performing communications technology available, to transfer video and data signals.
FiOS currently delivers download speeds as high as 500 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 100 Mbps in the city. Customers can download a two-hour HD video in over a minute-and-a-half and upload the average PowerPoint presentation in less than a second.
Kevin Service, Verizon’s president for the company’s Northeast area, said: “We have invested more than $3 billion in the city alone.”
In 2013, Verizon had completed network upgrades passing premises in 90 percent of the Bronx, 89 percent of Brooklyn, 94 percent of Manhattan, 90 percent of Queens and Staten Island under the Cable Franchise Agreement with the city.
In addition, the company has already made FiOS available to more than 60,000 New York City public housing units.
Verizon has also deployed Magic Wire, which seamlessly and almost invisibly adheres to moldings in compact city apartments, and a desktop optical network terminal.
