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Cable and communications giant Verizon is tempting customers ready to drop their cable provider and make the switch to the company’s FiOS network with a deal that includes month-to-month pricing with no term contract or early termination fee. Effective immediately, all new Verizon FiOS customers can opt to pay for a bundle on a month-to-month basis – at the same prices charged to customers purchasing a term contract – and receive price protection for one year without an early-termination fee.
For customers who want two-year price protection, Verizon has expanded its 30-day FiOS Worry-Free Guarantee. New FiOS consumers who order a Verizon bundle as part of a two-year contract can take advantage of the Worry-Free Guarantee, allowing them to cancel their service within 30 days of the date of activation, with no termination fee. Verizon noted the month-to-month option and Worry-Free Guarantee expand upon offers introduced earlier this year in Florida and Pennsylvania and that have met with a “very favorable customer response.”
Verizon noted FiOS customers can get the base FiOS bundle month-to-month, with no term contract or early-termination fee, for $99.99 per month before taxes, fees and customer-selected service additions, such as set-top boxes and premium channel choices, or the new La Conexion bundle, which includes English and Spanish programming, for $89.99. New customers can save an additional $5 per month on FiOS bundles when ordering online. The month-to-month option, which comes with price protection for one year, also applies to other bundle offerings featuring higher broadband speeds and more HD programming.
The Worry-Free Guarantee now covers new bundled customers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia markets where FiOS is offered. The month-to-month option is available in those states, plus the FiOS markets of Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington, which are in the process of being transitioned to Frontier Communications.
“We’ve listened closely to the market and heard potential customers say that FiOS offers faster, more reliable broadband service and crystal-clear TV pictures in any conditions, but that they want time to consider their switch from cable,” said Mike Ritter, Verizon chief marketing officer for consumer wireline and business services. “We want customers to know that the shift to FiOS is the best move they can make; that a two-year commitment provides them with price protection for their home-entertainment needs; and that our month-to-month pricing option and Worry-Free Guarantee help reduce anxiety from their decision.”
Matt Davis, director of consumer and small business telecom research for technology research firm IDC, said he believes that this strategy will resonate with consumers. “IDC believes that this new strategy of increasing consumer flexibility – coupled with multiple year pricing certainty – will serve as a catalyst to attract new customers to Verizon’s bundled service offerings,” said Davis. “At the same time, because IDC’s primary consumer research on the major TV, Internet and voice service providers indicates that existing Verizon bundle subscribers are highly likely to keep their Verizon bundle beyond their initial service agreement, we believe that Verizon will retain many of the new customers it acquires.”