Can Verizon be enticed to puts its FiOS trucks back on the road to expansion?

Despite the fact further expansion of Verizon FiOS has been stalled for more than two years as a result of a company directive, local officials in one Massachusetts community won a commitment from Verizon to extend its fiber to the home service to every home and business in return for a lengthy contract renewal.

Just nine months after local officials in Medford, north of Boston, first signed an agreement with Verizon, The Medford Transcript reports the two were back at the negotiating table with an amended agreement to extend Verizon FiOS beyond the 71 percent already served in return for a franchise that will not expire until 2025.

Verizon originally left large sections of West Medford and several neighborhoods scattered around the area without a fiber upgrade.

Verizon regional president Donna Cupelo acknowledged Medford is the only community in the state that has won a second round of FiOS expansion.

Like many cable franchise agreements, Verizon has agreed to contribute towards the operation of the community’s Public, Educational, and Government access channels available to subscribers of both Comcast and Verizon FiOS.

The amended agreement will expire at the same time Comcast’s current franchise agreement ends, giving both providers parity.

Verizon’s agreement to expand its FiOS network under certain conditions may provide the first visible path for other communities with incomplete fiber service to entice Verizon to keep building its fiber network.