Verizon Completes Test of 10 Gbps Upgrade for Businesses, Consumers

Verizon successfully tested a technology offering businesses and consumers 10 Gbps speeds for uploads and downloads over its fiber-to-the-premises network, with the potential for 40-80 Gbps, the company said Tuesday in a news release. Network upgrades will begin when commercial equipment is available to support business/ethernet services, and could also target FiOS customers as the market demands and technology matures, Verizon said. The new technology, known as next-generation passive optical network, was first tested at a Verizon lab, then to a FiOS customer's home from a central office three miles away and also from that office to a business near the home. “The advantage of our FiOS network is that it can be upgraded easily by adding electronics onto the fiber network that is already in place," said Lee Hicks, Verizon vice president-network technology.