So... after reading the AVS this morning, and realizing the limitation for FIOS TV in adding new HD channels, I reviewed the D* special package offer I have. Now here's the beauty: Verizon still packages Direct TV with their bundle for FIOS Internet (20mb download - 5mb upload) and telephone, thus giving a "freedom essential credit" of $26 per month for at least 24 months..

Result: Direct TV premier pkg, fios 20/5 internet, phone (long distance included) = $133

I hope all of you out there with the ability to get FIOS internet can take advantage of this as I have. Glad to share it with you all.

HMMm sounds good but i just signed a 2 year contract with verizon for internet & phone , all they offered me was $6.00 off my bill if i let verizon add directv to their billing. is there a special number you called ?

P.S. in our area they only offer 10 mb downand 5 mb up. yet i believe we were the 2nd city to get fuos in california.

I just called verizon and bundled my billing,but all together got a $26.00 amonth savings . I dont know where your getting your $133.00 price from. I"ll be paying $80.00 a month for fios internet and phone(including long distance) PLUS my directv programming right now around $90.00 a month=$170.00 a month (i dont have the premier pack) just total choice plus,locals,dns east,and 4 HR20s.

I'm stuck in AT&T land. No FIOS for me...

I called 1-888-553-1555. Keep in mind that I am a new customer coming from TWC and I called them to change my original "all FIOS" order placed yesterday.

Internet + Phone = $80 (20 down/5 up) or $70 (15/2)
Premier Pkg = $70 (First 4 months) then switch to HD-DVR pkg for $65
Bundle pkg discount = -$26
Total = $124

Be sure to remind the CSR that the bundles CAN include Direct TV

http://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/NationalBundles/NatBundlesHome.aspx

I'm stuck in AT&T land. No FIOS for me...

There are many in your situation. That's just the way it goes. You'll get over it.

So... after reading the AVS this morning, and realizing the limitation for FIOS TV in adding new HD channels, I reviewed the D* special package offer I have. Now here's the beauty: Verizon still packages Direct TV with their bundle for FIOS Internet (20mb download - 5mb upload) and telephone, thus giving a "freedom essential credit" of $26 per month for at least 24 months..

Result: Direct TV premier pkg, fios 20/5 internet, phone (long distance included) = $133

I hope all of you out there with the ability to get FIOS internet can take advantage of this as I have. Glad to share it with you all.

We have Fios tv, internet (15/2), and phone. FIOS tv is not as good as comcast in several ways and the last straw for many ppl in the Philadelphia area is that FIOS doesn't have TBS in HD and the MLB playoffs are only on HD and the PHillies are in teh playoffs for the first time in 14 years when there wa no HD.

the rep did mention someing about getting a dicount with dtv and fios internet so we will def make sure we get that.

seems contradictory for fios but its probably from before they had fios tv.

so let me get this straight though, keep fios internet and verizon phone and just get directv and we should get the discount?

the rep mentioned someting about it but iddn't describe it the way you did as only a 24 mo discount.

also how did you get 20/5 fios internet? here the only choice is 15/2 or it jumps to 30mb download (not sure what up) for an exhoribtant price jump.

Hold on guys. Are you telling me that you can package D* with ALL of the new HD channels? Nobody has mentioned what channels are included.

Hold on guys. Are you telling me that you can package D* with ALL of the new HD channels? Nobody has mentioned what channels are included.


Correct. That's why I called it "The Best Of Both Worlds". It includes ALL... I say it again... ALL HD channels since their special consists in the "Premier" pkg for $69/month for 4 months. After that, you can sign up for their "HD-DVR" pkg for $64.95/month which does NOT include HBO-CINEMAX, etc., Unless you are willing to pay an extra $35.


also how did you get 20/5 fios internet? here the only choice is 15/2 or it jumps to 30mb download (not sure what up) for an exhoribtant price jump

Here in Southern California we have that option for $10 extra per month. I'm not sure about Philly. In fact you should pay $10 less since you are on a 15/2 system.

So Ricko, I've currently got the triple play with FIOS. If I were to switch to their D* offering, does that require rewiring or is it a switch on their end?

It is not a switch. You need to intall the dish on the roof.

Ah! I thought they simply retransmitted the D* channels through their system. So it's still the hassle of another dish install, but without an actual 'switch of carriers'...and perhaps a discount. Less painful than a total swap out of services.

Ah! I thought they simply retransmitted the D* channels through their system. So it's still the hassle of another dish install, but without an actual 'switch of carriers'...and perhaps a discount. Less painful than a total swap out of services.

In any case, it will not work for you. Verizon will offer the DIRECTV bundle in locations where it does not offer its own entertainment services. In areas with FIOS TV, they will not offer the DIRECTV service.

Okeedokey, so much for that idea. Well hopefully by the time D* switches all their HD to Mpeg4, FIOS will get its act together.

i dont think fios is going to get their act together anytime soon. i've been waiting for that to happen since we got fios almost a year ago. comcast is better then fios and hopefully dtv will be better then both.

sucks you can't get the discount with dtv and fios internet and home phone as thats what we'll have.

oh well, fios isnt worth keeping.

In any case, it will not work for you. Verizon will offer the DIRECTV bundle in locations where it does not offer its own entertainment services. In areas with FIOS TV, they will not offer the DIRECTV service.

NOT correct. If you read my initial post, I originally was scheduled to get the bundle with Fios TV. When I found out about their Direct TV offer, I opted for it.

I'm stuck in AT&T land. No FIOS for me...

I'm stuck with Qwest - no FIOS for me this century :mad:

Did I read LIMITATIONS with FIOS ? I thought FIOS was the Holy Grail. Why can't they add the multitude of HD channels D* is getting ? Surely bandwidth isn't a problem, so maybe it's a "business decision" ?

Did I read LIMITATIONS with FIOS ? I thought FIOS was the Holy Grail. Why can't they add the multitude of HD channels D* is getting ? Surely bandwidth isn't a problem, so maybe it's a "business decision" ?

That's what I thought as well, untill I read AVS this morning with the following explanation:

Verizon is relatively unique among cable systems in their design.

They have two SuperHeadEnds (SPEs), one for redundancy. These SPEs aggregate all digital cable content using fiber, dozens of big ugly dishes (BUDs), and a warehouse full of receivers, SD MPEG-2 encoders, and commercial insertion equipment.

The SPEs send the MPEG-2 video via SONET to video hubs (VHOs) in each region. I don't know the current count, but I believe there are now somewhere between 7 and 13 VHOs. The VHOs modulate the MPEG-2 channels from the SPEs into RF (QAM) for delivery to the home. A section of RF (QAM) spectrum is reserved for locals. The VHOs receive the local networks from broadcast affiliates in the region (typically via fiber) and modulate them onto the reserved QAM channels. The combined QAM signal is sent via fiber to each Verizon central office in the region with guide data.

Your local office receives that modulated QAM video from the VHO and combines it with voice and high-speed data. From there is sent to your home via fiber.

Verizon has 135 6MHz channels available between the CO and your home. The problem, as I alluded to above, is that the VHOs and COs evidently have the hardware to support only 103 of those 135 channels today. Depending on the VHO, anywhere from 54 to 63 of those channels is allocated to QAM, with the rest allocated to analog. The oldest VHOs may have 54 slots available for QAM while newer VHOs may have 63.

More comprehensive upgrades are apparently required to upgrade the VHOs and COs to use the remaining 32 channels, so for now, Verizon is working to eliminate the analog channels. It's not a matter of just switching off an analog channel and switching on a QAM channel because both use separate equipment at the VHO and CO; hence, new equipment must be installed in every VHO and CO.

Each QAM slot provides a minimum of 38.8 Mbps usable. Verizon currently allocates 7-9 SD channels per QAM and 2 HD channels per QAM. The average FiOS system probably uses 52-53 QAM slots today.

Verizon's first step may be to make all VHOs and COs capable of using 63 QAM slots, because the newer VHOs are already capable of that. Verizon rolls out channels nationally, not regionally, so some in newer FiOS markets are probably stuck waiting for older markets to upgrade their equipment.

Thanks for the detailed and well written explanation. I did a QAM channel scan and found only 54 QAM channels for my Sterling, VA location, so I may have an "older" CO setup. They must be using the 63 QAM channel setup at the Mercer County, NJ and Anne Arundel - Howard County, MD areas to provide the HD locals from two cities and the 3 HD RSN in NJ.

I now see the reason for the push to get rid of the analog channels if they have equipment for only 103 channels. Why 103? That is a odd limit; would have expected some multiple of 8,16,32 for equipment racks.

Verizon obviously made a serious mis-calculation on future digital bandwidth needs when they started to build the system. They started TV service only 2 years ago; one would think they would have been better prepared for a HD flood. If they had decided to not bother with putting the little watched local public access and government channels on the analog tier and made them digital only, they could have gone with, say, a total of 30 analog channels. Then they could have built out a total of 73 or so QAM channels and they would not have this bandwidth crunch for the new HD channels starting up this fall and early 2008. 54 QAM channels is only 40% of the available 135 QAM channels.

I would venture that a team or consultant did the analysis that said 54 QAMs is plenty for the channels that currently exist, so the bean counters directed to put only 54 QAM cards in place to cut costs. Now they have DirecTV firing a full HD broadside and they can't shoot back. penny wise, pound foolish.

My QAM analysis did find two half filled national QAM channels for QAM 85 with Lifetime Movie HD and QAM 103 with Nat Geo HD as the only channels at those QAMs, so they probably have room for two more HD channels in those slots. I also did not see any subchannels for QAM 93, so that may be open. But if they are limited to adding 4 or 5 HD channels for now, they will have to choose carefully. In that light, not adding TBS-HD for only two weeks of MLB playoffs may be the right decision. I rather see Discovery-HD, Sci-Fi HD, CNN-HD and when it is available, FX-HD.

There will be no TBS-HD until June 2008. I strongly doubt there will be ANY, repeat ANY new HD channels added before June. The upshot? THat is way too late for FiOS to survise. I spoke with somethere there at length about this and this person, not in the decision making chain of command agrees. What a total waste of money. Glad I don't own any Verizon stock.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=917415

So there ya go...

Wow, so essentially they just replaced the transport media (coax) with fiber but still use the same antiquated encoding mechanism. I'm starting to think ATT's UVerse is pure genius now...

NOT correct. If you read my initial post, I originally was scheduled to get the bundle with Fios TV. When I found out about their Direct TV offer, I opted for it.

Thanks Ricko, that sounds a bit more optimistic. I'll try calling today if I get a chance and see if this is feasible. I think I still might wait one way or the other until D* gets their original HD channels over to Mpeg4. I just can't deal with their pixellization...it was a major reason for switching in the first place.

Thanks Ricko, that sounds a bit more optimistic. I'll try calling today if I get a chance and see if this is feasible. I think I still might wait one way or the other until D* gets their original HD channels over to Mpeg4. I just can't deal with their pixellization...it was a major reason for switching in the first place.

Hope you have better luck. I had called Verizon and they told me that I could not get the DirecTV package since they had FIOS in my area.

WELL theyv'e had fios here in our area for over 1 year, since i just changed to their freedoom essiantials for internet and phone for $80.00 a month with 5 up 2 down. all they did was add my directv billing to my phone bill and gave me a $6.00 discount off my phone bill, on top of my bundled $20.00 discount for phone and internet.I hope they don't srew up my bill when i add more channels from directv . HAS anybody else bundled their directv bill with their verizon phone and fios bill for the $6.00 discount? I"d like to know if it works O.K. .

Hope you have better luck. I had called Verizon and they told me that I could not get the DirecTV package since they had FIOS in my area.

Got the same response. :(

Got the same response. :(

Darn it... maybe I got lucky!

Ricko, I called again today and got what seemed to be a very knowledgeable customer service guy. He claimed I COULD get D* if I wanted. In fact he went on to say that he lives in Buffalo and doesn't yet have FIOS TV, but has FIOS data & phone. He spoke about the new HD channels on D* and said they were considerably better than the Mpeg 2 HDs on his 62" HDTV. He indicated it made no difference if I had FIOS TV now or not, I would still be eligible for D*.

However, he said they've heard quite a buzz about a 'ton' of new HD within the next 6 months coming to FIOS. He thought it had more to do with signing agreements than any issues with equipment in the COs. He found it hard to believe that their system that was built from the ground up only a couple of years ago, would have such limitations with equipment in the CO.

At any rate, whatever the reason, he thought 6 months would be the reasonable target date.

well they can promise 6 mo all they want, but they also promised hd on demand about a year ago and it still hasn't happened. whatever new hd chans they get in the next 6 mo will prob be delayed beyon that be a couple insignificnt ones at a tiem and will never in our lifetime probably catch dtv's # of hd chans.

there is supposedly no etf fee if you just cancel fios tv and keep your internet.

I am going to fight for the verizon home phone, cell phone, internet and dtv ultimate play package.... but they might give us a hard tim that not only is fios in our area but that we are canceling it for dtv.

but supposedly that doesnt' matter and they cant deny a package they have or create a new rule that is stated nowehre that you cant get it if you hve fios tv in your area. plus it may be in our favor tht we actually had it and canceled as it shows we werent not satisfied so they cant say give it a try as we already did so we wiill demand the package with dicousnt with dtv.

So... after reading the AVS this morning, and realizing the limitation for FIOS TV in adding new HD channels, I reviewed the D* special package offer I have. Now here's the beauty: Verizon still packages Direct TV with their bundle for FIOS Internet (20mb download - 5mb upload) and telephone, thus giving a "freedom essential credit" of $26 per month for at least 24 months..

Result: Direct TV premier pkg, fios 20/5 internet, phone (long distance included) = $133

I hope all of you out there with the ability to get FIOS internet can take advantage of this as I have. Glad to share it with you all.

Do they offer a package for FIOS Internet, Telephone, and DishNet?

Ricko, I called again today and got what seemed to be a very knowledgeable customer service guy. He claimed I COULD get D* if I wanted. In fact he went on to say that he lives in Buffalo and doesn't yet have FIOS TV, but has FIOS data & phone. He spoke about the new HD channels on D* and said they were considerably better than the Mpeg 2 HDs on his 62" HDTV. He indicated it made no difference if I had FIOS TV now or not, I would still be eligible for D*.

However, he said they've heard quite a buzz about a 'ton' of new HD within the next 6 months coming to FIOS. He thought it had more to do with signing agreements than any issues with equipment in the COs. He found it hard to believe that their system that was built from the ground up only a couple of years ago, would have such limitations with equipment in the CO.

At any rate, whatever the reason, he thought 6 months would be the reasonable target date.


Ken... in reading other Verizon threads and promises made by Verizon in the past, I would take advantage of this new CSR you spoke with the other day and get D*. It makes sense for Verizon to deny D* where they have FIOS TV, although I would argue the fact that they offer the service (D*) as per their web site.
Also, consider the fact that the contract is done with Verizon, not Direct TV. If FIOS gets lots of new channels in the next year or so, I don’t think I will have a problem extending my 2 year obligation to Verizon in switching to FIOS TV. However, seeing what D* has to offer NOW and looking ahead, D* will be hard to beat, IMO.

I've had it since Friday now and I can tell you that D* is really great. The new MPEG4 channels are just as nice if not better than what I had with TWC. MPEG2 is not that bad, and will soon migrate to MPEG4 (I hope).

Good luck…

Do they offer a package for FIOS Internet, Telephone, and DishNet?


No. They offer Direct TV only. Besides, why would you want Dish at this point in time when Direct TV is HD heaven ?

i'm canceling Fiost tv in favor of DTV and keeping fios internet and phone.

best of all worlds. Fios internet and phone. DTV hd dvr's and comcast fed direct to same tvs via coax with ota hd via qam and that way still get comcast sportsnet philly that dtv doesnt' have.

dtv and fios inet and phone on one bill ftw.