Rivals Beware: FiOS Hits 1.9 Customers

Verizon continued its steady challenge to cable operators, announcing that it now serves 1.9 million TV customers via its FiOS service. It's on pace to have as many subscribers as a top-five MSO by the end of this year.

FiOS added 303,000 customers in the October-December period to reach the nearly 2 million mark. If similar progress continues this year, it could finish with some 3 million subscribers--enough to pass Cablevision and all but four cable operators.

Some 21% of potential FiOS customers--the brand covers an Internet service by the same name--that can sign up for FiOS TV have done so. Its 1.9 million homes is out of an available base of 9.2 million.

FiOS gained nearly 1 million subscribers in 2008, in a year where it launched the service in parts of New York City, prime Time Warner Cable and Cablevision turf. FiOS TV allows Verizon to sell TV/phone/ Internet triple-play packages, which cable companies have been pushing for some time.

"FiOS remains at the center of our consumer strategy as our broadband and video services continue to drive consumer revenue growth," CFO Doreen Toben said on a call with investors.

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