AT&T U-verse and Verizon Fios are the next generation of television, telecommunications, and high-speed internet providers. They use very similar technology to provide customers with a feature rich multimedia TV, telephone, and internet experience. They are very similar, but AT&T and Verizon are using different business tactics and technology to woo customers from cable and satellite providers.
Technology
Verizon has decided to deploy fiber optic connections directly to subscriber homes. This is called fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP). Deploying FTTP connectivity for residential customers is very expensive, and laying fiber from Verizon’s existing equipment to the individual residences is very time consuming. Since Verizon is not making use of the existing copper wiring between their field equipment and the residence, they will lose a lot of time laying fiber connections, and it will take an extremely long time for a widespread roll-out of Fios.
AT&T has decided to make use of their existing fiber optic infrastructure and the existing copper wiring between their field equipment and the residence, which is known as fiber-to-the-node (FTTN). This results in a much quicker deployment time, much lower cost for consumers, and much lower initial out-of-pocket costs from AT&T’s coffers. AT&T also has the option of switching from FTTN to FTTP once the overall need for additional bandwidth rises, and AT&T can reinvest funds from existing customers to use for future upgrades.
Price
Verizon is one of the most expensive communications providers in the United States. They stake their reputation on reliability, expansive networks, and a wide variety of services. They turn most of the cost of upgrades, expansion, and maintenance over to the consumer. Since Verizon has built their brand around these concepts, they also spend a lot of time and energy on deploying the newest technologies when they are ready for consumer usage. This is what drove them to offer residential FTTP connections before any other national carrier. You should not expect them to engage in active price competition with the local cable and satellite companies, but they may attempt to do so with AT&T since U-Verse is based on similar technology.
AT&T is more sensitive to existing market trends for pricing in the cellular, television, high-speed internet, and telephony markets, and they tend to stay in the middle of the road. They have also been known to provide relatively generous discounts to subscribers that use more than one of their services. Since AT&T’s U-Verse can also take advantage of AT&T’s cellular phone technology, expect additional incentives for existing AT&T cellular subscribers. AT&T is also taking advantage of existing infrastructure, so they can reduce the cost to the customer in the short term, and use their subscriber base to their advantage when it is time to upgrade to a pure fiber network.
For more details on plan prices and packages for AT&T, check U-verse pricing details.
For bundle and promotional signup deals on Verizon’s fiber service, check Fios pricing details.
Availability
Deploying FTTP connections is time consuming and expensive, so expect slow but steady growth for Verizon’s Fios services. AT&T is gaining subscribers at a very high rate, because they are able to expand their coverage quicker. In the next two years expect a lot of markets that were previously monopolized or dominated by Comcast, Cox, or Time Warner to see both Verizon and AT&T enter the market. This will completely change the face of television, high-speed internet, and telephone pricing.
Customer Service Experience
AT&T UVerse and Verizon’s Fios were ranked at the top of the list for Customer Satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates in 2008. The existing providers in many markets became complacent because there was little or no competition until U-Verse or Fios was introduced. Expect all of the providers to raise their customer service standards very quickly to stay viable in a market with increased competition.
Go for U-verse
I go for U-verse primarily because there’s no contract required, it allows me to test the service first,..which no doubt about, I’m really impressed with the quality of image I’m receiving … plus the several apps they have…
F Young
In think the question is not what is the best today, but what is best for the future.
I would have say Fios simply because of the limited braodband capibilities of U-verse. Let’s face it, dial-up was great back when the interent was simple, however is not even feasable for the average internet customer today download videos and other broadband media. FTTP (fiber-to-the-premises) provides an unlimited bandwidth capibilities which can not be delivered over the ‘last mile’ of copper.
Google has just announced an experiment to provide a competitively priced broadband 100 times what can be obtained by the average comsumer today. They’re plan is to go over FTTP and would exceed U-verse’s max bandwidth over copper.
Fios
Fios offers more that att i prefer fios
pizzaiolo
Read again, when you talk about “the question is not what is the best today, but what is best for the future”. The article’s author had it right that AT&T is delivering to a rapidly broadening and satisfied customer base with FTTN, and they can retroactively improve by deploying FTTP later. That strategy makes a lot of sense, and delivers a competitive advantage in my area over Time Warner Cable. While I’ve been waiting for years to hear when FIOS will appear in my area, I was surprised to learn recently that U-verse is already here! I’ll be dropping TWC like a hot potato at the end of this month.
And comments like “Fios offers more that att i prefer fios” add zero value to the discussion.
Eddie
AT&T and Fios is based on the same technology, fiber. It’s just that AT&T is growing faster because they only deliver FTTN which is much quicker. Verizon however, is going all the way by providing FTTP. In my opinion if you had a choice of AT&T U-Verse and cable, choose the best option, U-Verse. If HOWEVER you had the choice of U-Verse (how it is now, FTTN) and Fios, chose the best option, Fios. AT&T and Fios are going to be great competitors once U-Verse upgrades to FTTP and both spread their services to almost all of US.
Peter
You should choose between Fios and U-verse by how much you want to pay. Saying “Fios pwns U-verse, choose Fios” is like saying “Lexus is better than Chevy, so choose Lexus.” Yes well we’d all choose Lexus and we’d all choose Fios if we unlimited amounts of cash in the bank, but we don’t so we make trade-offs.
Monica
I agree that Fios has an amazing (and in my opinion, superior) product, however I strongly incourage anyone thinking about getting this service to look at the hundreds of similiar complaints all over the internet before doing the plunge. Verizon is a huge umbrella company that divides all their services with different companies under the same name and while their cellular in WONDERFUL, their internet and Fios, in particular, are horiffic! I have spent all day reading on this and after my brief experience with customer support (one and a half months trying to install and upgrade from their subpar dsl service)also believe they are contemptuous and dishonest, at best. I am very happy to see they have competition and I have choices.
Fios happy user wanting to move to FIOS available area
I have nothing to disagree with the article and all people is saying. I am a very happy FIOS user and I have learned that wherever is AT&T is not Verizon and vice-versa. So the area I wanted to move to is served by AT&T and for what I am reading looks like AT&T U-verse has kind of good service, but still not equal or better than Verizon. So what is worrying me is that I have to move to an apartment and happened to me that I had TWC installed before and my neighboors hanged from my cable too cousing me to loose my conexion several times at day. So if AT&T is using the same cables and structure that cable companies left or are leaving then I am running the same risk by having AT&T services vs Verizon that has their conexion in the ground directly installed inside my apartment what stopped all my previous problems and never had any incident with my conexion since then. Well hope someone gave me an input on how reliable is AT&T U-Verse as far as running the risk of having someone stealing my internet.
Da900smoove1
AS A TELECOM SERVICE TECH FOR 1 OF THE ABOVE…..I WILL TELL YOU FIBER TO THE PREM IS THE BEST WAY… AND IN NEWER HOUSING TRACKS DEVELOPERS HAVE WORKED WTIH EITHER A TELECOM OR CABLE TV PROVIDER 2 BE THE SOLE PROVIDER OF SERVICE ONCE HOMES ARE COMPLETED…. THE LIMIT OF OF FIBER HASNT BEEN REACHED YET & ITS 40 PLUS YRS OLD TECH FROM BELL LABS… LAST MILE COOPER(WHICH HASNT BEEN MAINTAINED PROPERLY SINCE BREAK UP OF MA BELL) HAS LIMITS & IF YOU GET A FAIRLY NEW INSTALLER GOD HELP YOU GETTIN PHONE TV DSL TO ALL WORK SAME AS BEFORE THE SWITCH FROM SEPARATE SATELLITE/CABLE TV/DSL/PHONE… AS TIME GOES ON THE ONLY DRAWBACK WILL BE COST MONOPOLY…TELECOM WILL OWN RIGHTS TO WHAT TRAVELS ON THEIR NETWORK TO YOUR HOME/CELLPHONE
Kenya
I have been with Fios for almost 3 years. The product is great. I never had any problems. However, their customer service it terrible. You get passed around from department to department when you ask a question. Not to mention my rate has doubled since I started with them. When I moved last June, they made the transistion very difficult. Installer never showed up. When one finally did show, he was rude and unhelpful. I have had someone’s Wireless bill added to my bill. Horrible, horrible experience. I have now signed up for Uverse since it is also offered in my area. I now have more channels, and I am saving $50 a month.
frank benson
I find it hard to believe that AT&T customer service was highly rated by J.D Power & Assoc. I have a thick file resulting from on-going problems with AT&T high speed internet,telephone and TV services. When we talked with a sales representative about switching from Diish Network to Uverse we were assured that we could get the same benifits for the same amount money. Later we found that with AT&T Uverse phone services we were given a relatively low number of calling minutes monthly and after that we were charged by the minute for calls made. We had never been told about the limited number of minutes deal and quickly discovered that it raised our monthly phone bill substantially. We also learned after hooking up Uverse that our promised $55.45 cost for their U200 program was only a short term promotion and that the real cost of that program would soon increase to $69.00. Thentheir waa the promise of a 6 month HBO package that turned out to be a 90 day promotion. right this minute at 8:00 p.m, July 12th, 2011 I have been on the phone waiting to speak to a customer service representative for an HOUR AND 15 MINUTES and I am still waiting. if this is good customer service I’d hate to see anything worse! I wouldn’t recommend AT&T service to a dog!! And, I no longer have any confidence in J.D. Power & Assoc.
Da900Smoove1
U-VERSE IS A SUB PAR PRODUCT COMPARED TO FIOS & CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS GONE THE WAY OF THE DINOSAUR FOR BOTH COMPANIES….BATE & SWITCH IS THE NORMAL DAY TO DAY PROFIT PLAN OF TELECOM TODAY… TRUST ME KEEP YOUR DSL, CELLPHONE, TV-CABLE, LANDLINES SEPARATE!!!. FIBER TO THE PREMISE IS HE FUTURE BUT THE DRAWBACK IT HOW GREEDY WILL THE TELECOM-CABLE PROVIDER BE IN 3-10YRS
bruce
just switched to uverse do not do it the picture quality is poor compared to fiber optic my HDTV now looks low definition. DO NOT use a company with copper cable if you can get fiber optic.
Armando
FIOS may be a better product – but what’s the point of that if it’s not available in YOUR area?
Moving to a an area where FIOS is available is not an option for me…so, U-VERSE it is…
J
I have had U verse for over 2 years and just moved in with my sister who has FIOS it’s crap compared to U Verse. I mean you get more with the basic ATT package then with FIOS and the customer service at ATT is GREAT!!! Yes they Outsource but the agents are on their job and if they cant help ask for a US base rep with No Problems. STAY AWAY for FIOS I would rather do Direct TV
John Ramirez
Verizon Fios is a much better product then AT&T. Verizon is true Fios well AT&T is not. Verizon is number 1 with internet speed never slowing down, FCC report just showed Verizon is #1 and never slowing down and customers get 15% more then what they pay for also Verizon has best picture quility 3 years in a row by JD power.
Tonya
I’ve had AT&T Uverse for about 2 yrs and have had numerous problems most recently today. My television has been frozen since Thursday. Whenever I contact AT&T tech support to fix it they can never tell me what the problem is. The last two times I contacted them to fix it they ended up doing a hard reboot wiping out the hard drive and all stored programs. This has happened twice in the last 3 months. Unfortunately fios is not available in my area otherwise I’d switch. I don’t mind a contract or paying a little bit more, I just want to have uninterrupted service.
salespro
i starting with att selling u-verse and i swore it was the greatest thing since sliced-bread now that i’ve transitioned to fios i turly understand all the angry customers complaints,with u-verse not being fttp if you purchase a top tier tv pkg and a middle of the road internet speed your services will struggle to work efficently you must do the top pkg with their top internet speed which will start out $50 “cheaper” but once the 1 year agreement is over it also will be $200 monthly where fios being fttp it allows not only a cleaner connection but the signals are no longer congested every prospect i approach i ask the same question is the price or cost important normally they attempt to know where i’m going with that statement and all say price well to make a long story short you can pay 99.99 and end up paying for multipule tech visits, having to increase the internet speed to work with the tv ect. or you can get a great price break good for 2years now contract /or no contract and get it done correctly the first time that also goes back to the old saying you get what you pay for the best part is any home with existing fios equiptment can get 3 services for the price of 2 (top tv pkg with 35/35 internet and unlimited phone for 109.00 again good for 2 years and now if you do a contract it comes with a free multi-room dvr sorry guys att can’t come close to what fios is doing and for all living in texas if someone in a red or grey verizon shirt knocks on your door know that they are there to educate you on why fios is better and door 2 door verizon will always have a better deal than online and calling into the call centers be nice to them their people too and honestly we’ve found that customers are more likely to buy from the face to face approach than any flyer or telemarketing call so if your looking to get more information be sure to open the door to the next smiling face you see :FYI the holiday promotions are coming and in my 5 years of direct sales these are the best i’ve ever seen so get ready
terry
I am paying $146++/month for fiberoptic uverse. that includes basic cable, which has less channels than I get with my rabbit ears (both HD & good signals). I want to try fios, but verizon website cant find my house. Only reason we got uverse was for the land line because our att cell signal is so bad.
Kay P
When it comes to Fios & U verse it really doesn’t matter which “YOU” would rather have. You don’t get the option of choosing between the two. Fios is only available to Verizon customers and U verse is only available to AT&T customers. Verizon and AT&T have specific geographical areas that they cover and they never cross each others boundries. So if you live or work in Verizon territory you can have Fios but not U verse and if you live or work in AT&T territory can have U verse but not Fios. It’s as simple as that!
rdsii64
I have no experience with ATT Uverse. I do however, have years of experience with Verizon FIOS. They are worlds above what I was forced to use untill they came to Temecula California. I’m not going to bad mouth Time Warner but I switched for a reason! I have better service, faster connections speeds and more HD channels for a smaller monthly bill. I have never experience ATT Uverse and I doubt you will ever find FIOS and Uverse offered in the same area for a long time if at all. I do hope that I am eventually proven wrong because as much as I love my FIOS service, If I could choose between Uverse and FIOS that would force Verizon to stay on top of their game. I love Competition because in the end I ( the consumer) win.
Scoob
Uverse delivers their service thru FTTN and FTTP…. ALso, AT&T has the capability of getting up to 100mbps on the copper network although distance does play a significant factor.
Elaine
ATT has the WORST customer service in all my dealings with various vendors…takes hours to straighten out even minor complaints and they don’t monitor any of their workers so I have been disconnected or been told it’s another department’s responsibility and being pass around from one dept. to another…not only is copper cable older technology but their corporate structure is so backwards. I just wanted to switch my account from my married name back to my maiden name after my divorce, they had to create a new account and my internet was down for nearly 2 weeks because someone got the order mixed up somehow…unbelievable!!!
Dock
We have Netzero DSL ,and yes it’s (1200 BPS) a bit slow ,and we get disconnected a lot ,but we are only paying $19.95 a month . The good wife thinks I should change to Verizon or ATT .I fried ATT for lying and not telling us that our unlimited plan had ended without telling us and then a Monster cell bill . “WOW” . Isn’t there a Internet provider that has a good speed for $20 to $29 a month? Thanks Dock in Orange California
rebecca
i just checked pricing and offerings and Fios blows UVerse away… dollar for dollar you Fios gives you so much more… wish i could get it
Cline
Frank you stated that a d2d rep misrepresented the product to you. That’s unfortunate but that doesn’t effect the quality of the product. I work in customer service and deal with customers that are given incorrect quotes all the time. It is unfortunate but has nothing to do with the quality of the uverse service. People always want the cheapest, well those customers should go with the local cable company but for those who would rather have quality uverse is better. I would keep uverse if it was twice as much as my previous provider because I love the service. Cable cannot offer broadband integration like uverse can. The standard def picture with uverse us better than the hd picture from my previous provider. AT&T never says they are the cheapest but they do say you get the most value and that is true. Uverse gives you the ability to take TV with you and with mobile broadband(iPad,iPhone,android, etc) that is huge and cable cannot compete. Uverse should cost WAY more than cable but the best part if it all is I’m saving money with uverse. I pay $156 a month for 24 meg broadband over 450 channels with every premium in three rooms with total home dvr. A lot of customers would think that is high but for everything I get it is a steal and I would pay $250. Anybody that would go back to cable from fios or uverse obviously hasn’t taken advantage of all the features. I will never have anything but iptv again
Anthony
Choosing to go with FIOS or with Uverse is hypothetical. You are either in Verizon land or ATT land until you move.
Ajay
I think that verizon Fios is way better than u-verse.
Fios only takes about an hour or 2 to set up while u-verse took me at least 2 weeks.
u-verse company kept telling us that we have to buy more cables and after we did. they were unneeded. They also told us that we have the best signal out of all their customers, but when ever i turned on the Tv the internet directly went down and there was no signal what so ever… We kept calling them back and they told us they would come at certain times to fix it, but they never came on the required time we asked them to. then finally we got rid of it and got verizon fios. The internet is soo much faster, and it also takes about an hour. Get fios everyone. 😀
Just Learning
I am a Bell Atlantic/Verizon employee. Verizon will never compete on cost. They will always win IF the contest for VALUE for your dollar. But as the gentleman previously said. Can you afford it? The competition here is Comcast and Verizon. I am in the Pittsburgh market. This town isn’t even comppletely wired yet. Right now Fios has 18 million homes passed and 4 million customers. They have a fair anount of the foundation built but not completed. They will complete that Phase. So there is a great deal of marketing work to be done. I am contemplating working for Fios. I will be a Director of Marketing I will never ever print the word cable on anything that passes thru my office. Vz is the next generation. Unfortunately after Phase I which is finishing up, there is no phase II. There will be no more new construction. So unless you live the phase I area in Verizon foot print you probably won’t get the opportunity to experience the next generaton in television entertainment. Now you may be in an area that has not been completed, you will have the service at sme point. If you cant get Fios spend $2000 on your plasma TV, but if you don’t have Fios…why bother. You can buy the best cookware but if the cut of meat is lousy, still tastes like hamburger.
austin
I have ATT and I think its wonderful were I’m at I get about 24 mega bytes per second which is really fast I never get disconnected and everytime I have a problem I call customer support get connected in at most 5 minutes and only on the phone for a max of 15 if I had to choice I would choice ATT a hundred times over anybody else
Joel
I have three services. I work in the industry. It requires me to have access
to whats available in my area.
I currently have Uverse, dish and direc tv. I have had Uverse since it arrived three years ago to the South Florida market. When it first came here it was the worst of my three services. However, since they have done upgrades it is next and neck with my satellite services.
Value wise (Uverse) is the cheapest of the three. Plus they give you more for you money. Internet, tv and phone all bundled together. Plus Vod is excellent.
I have seen Fios up north. Great product. Fiber to the home is absolutely the best. No copper!
However I did not see a big difference in HD picture compared to Uverse.
Ed
I am moving from an AT&T Uverse area to a Verizon FIOS area. The internet speed for FIOS is far superior to Uverse. That is the only positive thing I can say. The equipment used in the house is so outdated that I can’t believe it. Having to have different DVRs in different rooms and not to be able to go from room to room and seamlessly use it is ridiculous. Recording capacity is much much less with FIOS. The limits of recording a while viewing another station is maddening. I have four different boxes each with a different way of using them. TV picture quality on both my big screens are equal. Uverse was just as good as my FIOS. I find customer service to be about equal. Good and bad were about equal. I feel if Verizon would upgrade their lousy hardware to match what is available with Uverse they would have a good service. I am very unhappy having to pay a very premium price for vastly inferior equipment.
c0der
Here are some gaping holes in AT&T’s system. A motivated person could read this and discover ways to exploit these holes for nefarious purposes.
I was an AT&T (A)DSL customer up until last year when we finally had U-verse (vDSL FTTN) available — then we switched to that. We were quite happy with the service itself, but then when we moved to a new house located less than a mile away (same zip code), things went awry. AT&T assured us that U-verse was available at the new house, even though I didn’t see any “buried fiber” posts nearby. The previous owners had plane Jane ADSL, and they had been petitioning to get U-verse for two years but never heard anything back. Weird, but AT&T promised that I’d get my U-verse set up on a sunny Wednesday in East Texas.
Turns out, AT&T takes advantage of the US Postal Service address database for “service availability” queries, which makes sense, but those queries also cross-reference their own “node capabilities” database which is only updated whenever a service technician does maintenance on a particular node. Whenever there is a dispute between the two, proper procedure is to do an “address validation,” which usually involves sending a Prem tech to lay eyes on your house and the nearest exchange to determine service capability.
Interestingly, the name of the street where my new house is located changed over 18 months ago. The road used to be called, let’s say, “North Adams Road.” That road still exists very nearby, but they split off our little chunk of the road and renamed it to, let’s say, “East Boondocks.” 18 months is plenty of time for the US Postal Service to update their database, but the few residents on my street have had their ADSL internet running since long before that.
Also interestingly, the “North Adams Road” proper (not where I live) had its node updated with U-verse. “East Boondocks” was forgotten, however, and its node is still all copper — but whenever the team did the upgrade, they mistakenly reported that the whole road (including East Boondocks) was completed.
What does this all mean? Well, when the previous owner of my house disconnected his DSL service so I could create mine — he just put the house into the HughesNet market. After 7 weeks of waiting, 26 hours on the phone talking to 39 agents from every department, I can’t convince anyone at AT&T to hook me up with DSL. They can’t create a DSL account for me because the “system” thinks my address is owned by the U-verse people (a clerical error on AT&T’s side as I mentioned).
So, every time I try to order service, they create a U-verse account for me, send a guy out to the house (who scratches his head when he doesn’t find any fiber nearby), and then they cancel the order. This has happened 4 times now. I’ve also called and had a technical support agent submit an escalation form. I explain the issue all over again, I tell them about the road name change, the fact that I only have coppper to the CO, etc., and the agent dutifully adds everything I say to the growing novel of “notes” associated to my billing account. I wait patiently for 4-5 days, and no one ever calls me back, ever. So, I call back, and they tell me the escalation was put in, but with no further details. This has happened 3 times.
No one from any tier of technical support knows how to solve the problem, but I’ve watched the DSL light go green on my modem during their line checks from the CO. It doesn’t matter that the service works if the Sales department can’t create an account! They always end up telling me “sorry, you’re out of luck. Would you like a dial-up account or perhaps a wireless LTE account?”
No other non-wireless broadband provider will help me, either — so I’m stuck trying to convince AT&T to update their database or at least override the order. I’ve reached the point of pulling my hair out a while ago. I guess I’ll just keep calling and ordering U-verse, having AT&T spend time and money sending equipment through the mail and service technicians to my house until they either figure out how to fix their database issue or upgrade my exchange to fiber.
Carmen
Well, FIOS might be the quality that it is, but the customer service stinks, the cost is high, and they could not get my computer to work. I live in an area that is not in the city, but not totally rural anymore. The router they used could not handle going through the walls of my home. After several times trying to get assistance, Verizon finally told me to call the Geek Squad or fix it myself. Wow, I pay them for service and I was told to fix it myself. If I wanted my computer to work I had to fix it myself. I did precisely as they said. I hired a high school student to come and install another router on the other side of my house and I now have two routers running to make all the computers work. Different routers for different computers, but it is working. But, I pay Verizon every month for computer service that they promised me. Something is wrong with this picture!I hate bundling, but the choices are limited today!
New Verizon Fan
I have had Uverse for awhile, I am not impressed, AT & T customer service is Poor at best. They had to come out 5 times to get my set up finally fixed. Also if your home if physcially far from the box your speeds are slower, I went from Elite to Max Plus in order to download movies etc Netflix, Amazon Prime and Could not see any difference in speed at all. I look forward to get Fios, and having them bring the Fiber to me. I am sure then I will not have the living on the Edge issues I have with AT & T.
I mean I leave down the street from the Box… its not like I am miles away, maybe a block and their tech told me I was on the edge. Which is why my download speeds takes longer than someone living say next door to the box, the farther the FTTN connection the worse it is.
ughh
I am so ready to drop FIOS for Uverse…the customer service is crap….but not as bad as time warner cable. i’m ready to see what Uverse, and the wireless STBs, have to offer.
ughhhhhhh verizon is the pits
literally 4 times tonight channels that i have paid for have– while i am in the middle of an episode– randomly switched to a “purchase this channel by pushing the such and such button” screen (while the sound for the show i am watching continues). I called for support and was told to PAY $40 to upgrade to a functioning set top box….i would think in the $130+ i pay each month it would include a functioning set top box…..
jazz
FIOS is KING. Uverse is running on the OLD phone wires. Mulitple HD channels and fast Internet speeds do not go well together on Copper…especially if there is wet cables or faults on the copper to your homes( squirrels, rats, ants and stuff will destroy your signal. Not to mention am/fm and other noise interference as well as EMI from Power Lines if not Grounded and Bonded properly within the last DECADE or 2 by AT&T. You will usually get pixilation and freezing with your HD TVS and latent internet if not plain Internet dropping. You can also get both Fios and Uverse in some North Texas towns and maybe a few other areas but not many, but why would I need Uverse……unless I have (1) OLD tube type TV and dont use the internet for anything other than surfing. For gamers, downloading movies/music and big families that want quality HD TV, Smoking hot-Internet and crystal clear Phone services that dont drop signal-you need FIOS. others may like crap like Uverse
Jim
I am envious of those of you that can can get U-verse and FIOS in your area. I live in Georgia which is 100% AT&T in my sub division fiber has been laid but I cannot get U-Verse in my home. The dslam that provides DSL to my neighborhood is capped out, the dslam wasn’t expanded as new homes were built but almost every in the neighborhood has DSL because they can’t stand the cable company. I am stuck with no internet service, I would rather go without than to have to pay for cable internet with the provider in my area. I know a few engineers at AT&T and they said the bottom line is a matter of dollars and cents. With the economy woes AT&T feels that it isn’t worth investing in a FTTP platform at this time, but they are testing FTTP in selected areas. With the economy slowly improving I feel AT&T will open the checkbook and eventually upgrade to a full fiber platform, my neighborhood should be the first to be upgraded, I can’t wait to have those blazing fast speeds.
rn
I have fios triple play with a bandwidth of 75Mbps/35Mbps down/up. When the installer came out, I had him install the ONT inside my garage. I have whole home DVR with 2 extra HD Set top receivers.
I pay about $115 a month.
anonymous
I have worked as tech support for both companies,2 years both, and I will tell you this, fios is better. With fttp there are less breaking points in the system. It’s by far the most stable. yeah it ismore expensive, but you do get what you pay for. If you can’t afford fios sure go to uverse, but don’t be whiny when it isn’t working like internet should. The residential gateways that at& use absolutely suck. They only support wireless b and g. No n. Both have strong and weak points to them, but fios IS the strongest.
Joe don
For the vast majority, this discussion is irrelevant. Thanks to antiquated, anticompetitive, anti-consumer telecomm regulations, carriers enjoy territorial monopolies. In my area, Verizon is not allowed to offer FIOS service because of AT&T’s monopoly, and vice-versa. It’s very frustrating.
Cliff Chatham
I live in an AT&T service, and Verizon brought in Fios to my neighborhood 6 months before AT&T brought in UVerse. So in some areas those old boundaries are going away. Fios is good, but not perfect. As with anything, a lot depends on the quality of the infrastructure. If your area is really old, the copper might cause problems with the FTTN model. If it is fairly new, most people wouldn’t notice the difference. I hate Verizon customer service, and their advertising is deceptive. But Fios is still a good product.
Alexander Bell
FIOS is an all Fiber network…It virtually does away with copper wire-and the age old problems related to it; static, opens, grounds, cross battery, etc. Having FTTN is not unlike rebuilding a car and leaving a rusted frame. Shall I call it half assed?
Joe
AT&T is low bandwidth and the upgrades are expensive. Plus, it’s bandwidth capped at 250gb a month. While that works for most, it doesn’t work for me. Time Warner is ok but more expensive then FIOS and they keep raising prices. FIOS is best deal my area.
Mirna
This article was obviously biased. FTTP doesnt really take very long to install, and this way consumers that buy very expensive TVs get the full 1080 p picture quality their tvs are SUPPOSED to get as opposed to att coax cables which only provide the comsumer with 720 p. In Keller, TX a lot of att users are switching to Verizon considering their tv & internet share data so when they’re trying to work from home their tv crashed, vise versa. Only Verizon provides you with FULL TRUE FIBER OPTICS AND TRUE HIG DEFENITION. And Verizon now has very competitive pricing as well. Fios is way better, and will always be #1.
Craig
Im in the process of moving and have similar frustrations with the hold time and finding the right person to talk to with FIOS, ATT and TW. Some how I stumbled on to the CHAT support for both FIOS and ATT. I will never try calling again. Both chat lines result in almost immediate attention and will even give you a direct # when needed. DONT WAST TIME CALLING.
Aaron
I recently switched from a cable company to UVERSE after I moved. I must say the prices are ridiculous. I am getting a new “deal” from ATT for 34.99 a month. That is 6 mb down and 1 mb up. However, I have only been able to get 4 mb down and .3 mb up. Not very good for a gamer. To put it in perspective. I was paying the same price for my local cable company only I was at 10 mb down and 4 mb up. The only other option is time warner, for the same price is 15 mb down and 1 mb up. In reality, anything over 10 mb download isn’t noticeable to me and I loathe TWC. Unfortunately, the only way to upgrade your upload speed is to upgrade to a higher package. So if I pay $70 I can get 25 mb down 5mb up for ATT. Not worth it considering that speed cost around $9 USD in europe. Patiently waiting for the government to “unbundle” the internet, for my old local company to come to my new town a few miles away or for verizon to get to my little town… Verizon has upload match. So whatever download you get, it’s equal up… 10/10 15/15 25/25 50/50. and up. My last cable company let me pick and choose my down and up, a very nice feature. For the average consumer, all you need is download speed. But for gamers and live streamers, you need upload. For example, I like to play xbox video games. While I am playing I like to stream my gameplay live in HD for people to watch all while my family is streaming things like netflix. my old 10/4 handled it without any latency. 🙁 Anyway, I’m not impressed with ATT rate/pricing
lisa
ATT SUCKS!!!! Dropped calls on my home phone line. TV always freezing up. Had them out several times and can’t fix it. Their prices are twice as much as Fios. Too bad they have a monopoly in my area.
Greg Henggeler
These two continue to not compete in the same markets. It represents collusion and affront to the free market, we as Americans tout and rightfully so, so proudly. Why won’t they compete head to head? I know DFW was one of the original FIOS markets and yet I dont’ have a choice between the two. My family had ATT Uverse with no option for Verizon, moved 25 miles north in the last year and now only have Verizon as an option. In my opinion they have carved up territories and agreed to compete against smaller carriers but purposely avoid each other to control pricing options. Ridiculous! Contact your local Congressional Representative if you feel the same.
Debby G
I usually move around a lot renting rooms. I have gone through Fios, Cable, and Uverse. I usually play Call of Duty when at home, so I will be comparing based on Video Games usage.
Speed – FIOs hands down. Actually never had connection issues with it or lag. With Uverse major problem when someone else was also using internet. Also with Cable.
Reliability – Uverse and Fios were always up and running at full speed. Cable however, the internet would go out for about an hour and come back online. This happened a lot. Also, during peak hours, Cable would run at about half or even less of the speed which we subscribe to.
As far as internet goes. Fios wins by long shot. Uverse is reliable but speed is really slow (My phone’s 4g LTE is quicker). Cable’s has good speed but too many connections issues. It was just not us, my neighbors experience same problem.