Verizon will soon begin deploying an advanced technology from Alcatel-Lucent that will dramatically improve the capabilities of Verizon's industry-leading 16-state fiber-to-the-premises network.

The new technology, called a gigabit passive optical network, increases the aggregate broadband speeds on Verizon's FTTP systems by four times downstream to the customer, and by eight times upstream back to the Internet. This provides the capability for future enhancements to FiOS Internet Services and FiOS TV. Verizon will be the first major telecommunications company to deploy the new technology to customers in the United States.



The new technology will be rolled out first to a group of customers in Lewisville, Texas, early in the second quarter, and then to a group of customers in Kirklyn, Pa., over the summer. At the successful conclusion of the initial deployments, plans for wider expansion of the new technology will be announced.