Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Verizon Communications.

Verizon Communications was formed in the year 2000 when Bell Atlantic acquired GTE. Verizon now boasts of a huge share in the telecommunication arena in the United States and currently lies second to Cingular as a wireless provider. As a considerate competitor in the phone market, Verizon has subsequently invested heavily in an effort to expand profitability in the provision of broadband internet services. Verizon bought MCI, which was formally known as WorldCom in the year 2005 to broaden its customer base to 49 million access lines in 28 states and Washington DC. The company also serves an approximated 18 million US long distance lines (Hitters, 2009).

As technology improves, most companies would want to be among the first to reap on the benefits that comes with the technology. Verizon Communications has been on the forefront on this concept as seen in the adoption of the new technology that saw the shift from using copper cables to the fiber enabled FiOS technology in the provision of its services. To commence its wire-line business segment, Verizon Communication has concentrated on the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service, better known as the FiOS and is looking forward to invest heavily in the new technology. This paper will look at the benefits that come with a shift in technology while focusing on the adoption of the FiOS technology by the Verizon Communication.

How FiOS works
FiOS utilizes the fiber optic cable that are made using hair-like strands of glass to send light pulses carrying information directly to a home computer. The laser-generated pulses are usually converted into electronic impulses ready to be used by the computer upon reaching the subscribers computer. This new technology has come with an amazing improvement in speed with Verizon claiming that FiOS loads music and related functions at an approximated 25 times more quicker than the old cable system. With predictable large amounts of data expected on the web, FiOS is a promising solution as it has a high capacity of handling the increase in web traffic. Compared to the traditional copper coaxial cable, FiOS which uses the fiber optic technology is able to carry more data and at even higher speeds (Crosby, 2010).

Verizon FiOS
The news about the new technology has been discussed a lot in the media. This follows the announcement about the Verizon FiOS meant to digitalize all fiber internet services. This new technology has offered a major breakthrough in what has been referred to as setting of new standards regarding quality in the telecommunication industry. The break-through has seen increased speed and improved quality in services being offered in day to day usage. Verizon has won praises for having raised the standards in the industry and at the same time encouraging developments in new technologies meant to improve communications and mass communication for that matter (Blanc, 2010).

One may want to know what is so unique about the Verizon FiOS venture. Verizon Communications was the first company ever in human history to switch to the new fiber optic technology. This field had not been exploited before and Verizon has really changed the manner in which communication technology will be shaped. Before the venture, the telecommunication industry including telephone services, TV, and internet services relied on a cable system using the copper wires. The copper wires were quickly adopted by the telecommunication companies and are currently in use by a majority of them be it in cable or satellite enabled companies (Blanc, 2010).

Verizon Communications was the pioneer in the creation of the very first network that utilizes the edge cutting fiber optic technology in the name of FiOS. Using the fiber optic cables as opposed to the conventional copper wires has greatly altered the playing ground in mass communication. This is because fiber optics allows for increased movement to up to three times faster when compared to the speed of copper wires. The fiber optic also has high capacity to accommodate massive data on the web traffic as opposed to the copper wires. Copper wires were well known for clogging in the event that there were thousands of users sharing the cable. This meant that some users were to be dropped to avoid clogging hence causing inconvenience. The fiber optic data has provided a lasting solution to this since it can accommodate more information and traffic without failure (Blanc, 2010).

With the fiber optic cable technology, there have been improvements in quality and clarity areas. For instance, the picture on the FiOS digital TV service is said to be clearer when compared to the regular TV picture. The clarity in voice calls made from the Verizon digital phone service is amazing. The Verizon FiOS internet services are characterized by high speeds and reliability and this has been praised by the consumers of the service (Blanc, 2010).

The Future
The fiber optic connection has been hailed for its capability to carry all forms of information including voice, data, pictures, among other forms and these permits Verizon to provide FiOS internet, TV, and phone services on a similar network. There is no doubt that Verizon Communications has opened a new front in the communication sector and it is expected that other companies that are still using the satellite and cable technology will soon follow suit. This will be necessary if these companies would want to stay in the communication industry. This is because the competition has favored Verizon since customers who experience the FiOS for the first time are reluctant to go back to the old technology, having tested the benefits of the fiber optic technology (Blanc, 2010).

The shift in technology by the Verizon Communications has not only created a historic moment in the telecommunication industry but it has also provided a competitive edge where customers have flocked to Verizon to acquire the highly reliable, qualitative, and quantitative services at a relatively same price. The Verizon FiOS network offers digitalized TV, phone, and internet services which are highly improved compared to the old version. The optic technology just like any other technology has come with its share of challenges. The major challenge has been the issue to do with power outages in which case the copper is credited for reliability for the telephone services even during power outages. However, Verizon was quick to respond by developing the power back-ups that can be useful for telephone services in the unfortunate event of power failure. Some people have also regarded the inability to revert back to the copper wire technology as a challenge the FiOS technology advanced by Verizon. Nevertheless, the advantages that come with the new communication technology are more important than the suggested disadvantages.

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