After years of unsuccessful attempts by Boston officials to woo, pressure, and shame Verizon into installing high-speed fiber optic service in the area—and in the midst of an acrimonious strike by Verizon workers—Verizon abruptly announced last month that it would, in fact, bring its so-called "FiOS" service to Boston residents.
The rollout will be gradual, expanding to different parts of the city over a six-year period.
Verizon said that the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Roslindale, Roxbury and Dudley Square will get the service first; Hyde Park, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain will follow.
But the question of who's next in line is a carrot Verizon is now dangling in a new online ad campaign asking potential customers to
"vote" for their neighborhoods.
Specifically, the company is asking two groups of neighborhoods to compete for quicker FiOS service: Group "C"—Downtown, Southie and Charlestown; and Group "D"—Allston-Brighton, Fenway, and East Boston.
Residents can vote by giving submitting their address—information Verizon, no doubt, wouldn't mind having as it markets it service in competition with Comcast and RCN, which dominate Boston's internet coverage.
The competition's website claims that the "fiber zone ... with the most votes will get FiOS first," though it also notes that Verizon will require "a minimum level of interest to bring FiOS to your fiber zone," a statement seemingly at odds with the company's announced intentions to provide coverage citywide. A Verizon spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.
