Fiber is the only broadband technology that is ‘not bound by dema...

said, “Yes … but it’s going to take time. It’s not going to happen overnight.” Verizon’s fastest FiOS service offers 50 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps up, but that’s based on a “commercial decision, because today we're capable of more than that,” Lynch said. “The existing infrastructure we have in place truly is capable of more than that, and we'll see more than that coming from us” as costs come down and demand increases, he said. Relatively few customers today buy 50/20 service from Verizon, he said. But consumer bandwidth usage historically has been 10 times what it had been six years earlier, Lynch said. Fiber is the most economical way to keep up with demand, with a lower cost per bit to build and operate than copper, he said. Fiber is less vulnerable to weather than copper, and as a passive technology it has fewer failure points, he said. There’s not enough spectrum to make wireless a suitable substitute for fiber, he said. Lynch said the cost of taking fiber to rural areas is decreasing. As the technology advances, “you're going to continue to see that economic breakpoint moving out, he said. Fiber cables used to be reliable only up to 12.5 miles, but “that’s been stretched” and some say the limit is now about 37 miles, he said.