No significant expansion for FiOS in 2011, say company officials.

A Verizon spokesman has confirmed Verizon will not be expanding its FiOS fiber to the home service into new areas in 2011, except in those communities where the company already signed franchise agreements.

It’s the second year of Verizon’s hold on fiber expansion, instituted because of objections by Wall Street, a difficult economy, and a less optimistic view by Verizon’s new management that fiber has the capacity to quickly return on investment.

For upstate New York, the end-effect of Verizon’s decision is an odd patchwork of partially-built FiOS-capable communities, mostly in suburbs amenable to Verizon’s franchise terms. Some suburbs have access to FiOS broadband and phone service, but not television.  Others have access to all three services, while many other areas have nothing but Verizon’s ordinary copper phone lines.

“If you are big on fiber, there are some outlying towns with real estate agents that list whether or not their properties have Verizon FiOS, and whether that includes television service,” says Lysander, N.Y. resident Jeff, who reads Stop the Cap! “Our town was just glad Verizon picked us for upgrades and we didn’t ask too much of the phone company, quickly agreeing to a TV franchise agreement.”

But residents in the city of Syracuse are less happy — they won’t get competitive video from Verizon and are stuck with a Time Warner Cable wired monopoly because the city “dragged its feet” on franchise negotiations.

“When it comes to bigger cities, they see Verizon’s knock on the door as an opportunity to cash in on freebies from the phone company, like upgrading their video studios for government access channels, paying substantial franchise fees, and agreeing to carry channels the city government wants on Verizon’s cable system,” Jeff says.  “When the first cable systems came to town, it was the same story; some communities dragged their feet for years trying to extract more.”

Of course, cities don’t have to wait for Verizon to take care of their growing broadband needs.  They can build their own fiber networks and deliver world class service themselves, or open the new networks up to private competitors to deliver bigger bang for your broadband buck.

http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSYR Syracuse FiOS availability not planned for Syracuse during 2011 1-6-11.flv

WSYR-TV in Syracuse reports it will be a long wait for many in central New York waiting for fiber to the home television service. (Warning: Loud Volume) (1 minute)

Other stories of interest:

1. Verizon Downplays Industry Calls for Internet Overcharging: ‘Unlimited’ Part of the Value Proposition
2. [Updated] Verizon FiOS Winds Down Buildouts – If You Don’t Have It Now, You’re Not Getting It
3. Verizon FiOS Availability Increasingly Important in Real Estate Listings and Renter Guides
4. Verizon Does ‘Home Technology Makeovers’ In Infomercials to Pitch Verizon FiOS Service
5. Time Warner Cable-Verizon FiOS Price War Likely In Syracuse