So I was talking with a Verizon rep yesterday about switching my internet from cable to Verizon FiOS and I have to say they were very aggressive with their pricing offers for someone switching over from cable. I'm generally happy with my current cable setup but with all the video I upload I want quicker upload speeds than 1megabyte per second. Unfortunately my current cable provider does not offer any faster upload speeds on residential accounts. FiOS on the other hand offers 15/mb down and 5/mb up on their basic plan. For someone who uploads a lot of content the Verizon option is obviously better. And with prices like $45 per month for both FiOS and phone guaranteed for two years I was in for the change which also includes a $150 gift card after 60 days of service. It's pretty clear that Verizon is currently very serious about acquiring new customers.

At some point in the process the Verizon rep mentioned that things were going to get better in 2010 with respect to FiOS. Now perhaps it was just sales talk but he said that Verizon plans to "change the game" by offering 25/mb down and 25/mb up as their basic plan. So that would mean that everyone at the 15/5 tier would get the upgrade. If true, it could blow cable providers out of the water when it comes to residential internet access. As far as I know there's no cable provider that is currently willing to offer those speeds as a basic service level. I would imagine that the competition would be forced to offer similar deals.

This situation also has implications for content creators and small businesses who really want to leverage the power of rich media on the internet. High definition video, quality audio and boatloads of photos could be uploaded in a few minutes as opposed to an hour or more. And this can be done at a very accessible cost. On the content consumer side we can expect to see a greater appetite for rich media on computers and televisions alike. Services like those offered by Roku and Boxee which are getting more mature will help consumers get that content to televisions.

It usually takes one company to step up in order to change the paradigm in an industry. Verizon just might be the company to do that for the residential/small business internet access industry in 2010. Stay tuned.