AT&T broadband may actually get competiton! From Verizon!

Could it be there is a battle about to be waged in real high speed access? Since the cable guys won’t actively compete against AT&T, will Verizon? It sounds like V is actually testing that idea now.

Verizon is apparently preparing to overbuild AT&T U-verse territory with Verizon FiOS service. This is a first, at least that I’m aware of, where large incumbent “baby bells” enter each other’s territory with competing landline services. Apparently, the rules have changed, and dramatically so. Verizon appears to be taking advantage of statewide video franchising rules (as Texas provides), and acting as a cable overbuilder, as opposed to a traditional telecom CLEC. The development was reported in this OneTrack post. I guess the gloves are slowly coming off. (Telecompetitor)

There are times you almost want to cheer for Verizon. So far, we’ve heard nothing about bandwidth caps from them. I sincerely hope they really shake things up for AT&T and the cable guy. Maybe they’ll make a fiber run out to my Fort Worth suburb soon.