Boston Globe lauds new high-speed FiOS that residents can?t get

Website DSLReports pointed out that a July 9 Boston Globe article on the new higher-speed Verizon FiOS left out an rather important fact: that many residents of Boston, like those many other cities, can't get FiOS of any kind, and probably never will.

That's because Verizon either avoided areas that included low-income residents, or because of Verizon's recent announcement that it's ceasing all FiOS build-out beyond its present commitments. As CWA revealed in its report, "Verizon/Cable deal: Slamming The Door On Our High Speed-Future," Verizon's de facto discrimination "demonstrates that people of color and lower-income households are disproportionately impacted by a decreased incentive to invest in FiOS."

Verizon, and the Globe, have played up the carrier's new speed tiers, the highest reaching 300/65 Mbps. But DSLReports scorned the Globe for its failure to see the larger picture:

"While the Globe touches briefly on Comcast and Verizon's fastest offerings - the paper fails at context - oddly ignoring the millions of U.S. consumers stuck with ISPs that probably can't or just won't be providing them anything more than 1.5 Mbps downstream anytime in the next decade, or the pathetic state of competition largely to blame for these speed shortcomings."

Boston Globe Gushes Over FiOS: Forgets Most of Country (And Boston) Can't Get it (DSL Reports, Jul. 10, 2012)

Broadband speeds outpacing demand (Boston Globe, Jul. 9, 2012)

Verizon/Cable deal: slamming the door on our high speed-future (CWA report, Jun. 2012)