Why is it that advanced telecommunication services become available in other major metropolitan areas but take so long in Baltimore County? It's one of my pet peeves. Here are my notes about it, plus other observations on FIOS, Verizon, and the politics of telecommunications.
Yesterday my neighborhood was invaded in force by Verizon. I'm a sucker for anybody building anything, so naturally I pulled over and chatted for a few seconds with one of the crews
Yup, they're pulling fiber.
Update - Thursday, July 19: the pole behind my house now has a terminal. The crew told me it usually takes 6-8 weeks from completion of a neighborhood and FIOS going live. Meantime, a note arrived in the mail asking me to sign up in advance for FIOS Internet, which would also put my current POTS (plain old telephone service) on to the same fiber link. No word on TV, though.
July 18, 2007
I don't know why it took our politicians so long to work this out, but at least it's done. See the Baltimore Sun's article.
The first service areas will be Reisterstown, Owings Mills, and Cockeysville. I live in Towson. Rats. The Sun article reports that the full rollout to the county will be complete by 2010. Hopefully the high-speed Internet services on fiber will be available in my area before Verizon cable TV because it's the data services I'm really interested in.
March 9, 2007
Verizon has a page on its Web site that lists the areas in which fiber construction is in progress. The information seems to be limited to the current month, so you won't find any future clues about when fiber might make it in to your neighborhood. Tip: the links to individual counties are actually Word documents rather than HTML pages or PDF files, so if you don't have Word download the files and use Windows WordPad.
Many thanks to several folks who have pointed me to this Verizon information.
January 20, 2007
On May 15, the Baltimore County Council approved a master agreement with Verizon allowing Verzion to begin construction of so called "fiber to the premises" (FTTP) using public rights of way. FTTP means that the fiber optic cable is run directly to a subscriber's business or residence.
Baltimore County still lags behind but this is good news, a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, Baltimore County's elected officials need to be held accountable for this delay.
May 24, 2006
Fiber optic cable is a vitally important technology to support current and future telecommunications needs for both businesses and individuals. But if you make a business or live in Baltimore County, MD, you are not able to take advantage of these benefits. The county lags far behind, not only compared to Maryland counties but compared to other major metropolitan areas in the U.S.
The Verizon service delivering these advantages is called FIOS. It is now being offered in Prince George's County and Fairfax County, VA, a substantial portion of the Washington DC metro area, with fiber being laid in Montgomery County. Anne Arundel County has the service and Howard County is getting it. The Baltimore metro area? Zip.
Is your business unable to obtain economic high-speed Internet service? DSL not available in your area? Why does Baltimore County lag behind?
Ask your county councilman, then ask the county executive.
See Verizon's site for more information about residential FIOS services.
February 15, 2006