Fiber Worth Moving For?

FiOS, Verizon’s fiber to the home project, is so good that people are willing to move to get it. At least that is what some geeks that Ars Technica talked to think.

In this month’s issue of Consumer Reports, the magazine took a look at ISPs and declared Verizon’s fiber optic FiOS service to be best of breed. Not only that, but the FiOS television service trumped all comers, including DirecTV, AT&T, Comcast, and Time Warner. Top honors also went to FiOS phone service, which beat every other telco and cable company for reader satisfaction. The fact that FiOS gets such high marks may be the reason that some people have even moved to get it.

Andru Edwards of Gear Live tells Ars that he’s one of those willing to relocate for the promise of fiber optic goodness. “I moved 10 minutes north of Seattle specifically for FiOS service…”

That’s top in reader satisfaction in three separate categories: Video, Phone, and Internet services…That’s pretty amazing. Now that’s NOT for Verizon’s regular service, please note. That’s for the FiOS (Fiber-Optic Service) that Verizon offers in a various places across the country.

Surely Verizon, with a big investment in expensive infrastructure, is going to try and put their best foot forward. But to impress users as the best you have to actually have to have an outstanding product to sell them.

Apparently fiber to the home has let Verizon offer an outstanding product. And I am completely confident that LUS will offer an even better version.

So, will people move to Lafayette to get an even better version of fiber?

There has been speculation that individuals might move to Lafayette to get our product. I admit that I’ve thought that a bit unlikely even though Durel has said he’s heard of people coming home because of it. But then on top of the interesting story cited above I saw this bit tagged on to the recent LUS groundbreaking story in the Advertiser’s online forum from a reader who lists his or her location as “Las Vegas, NV (migrating to Lafayette in ’08)”:

May be the best thing ever to happen to Lafayette. We were scouting future possible locations in Louisiana for a move from Las Vegas. As soon as we saw the FTTH initiative announced, we knew that Lafayette would be our destination.

Congratulations to Lafayette specifically and I’m sure that Louisiana will benefit too.

And former Councilman Menard might not have said he plans to move…but he has said he’d like to be annexed.

Hmmn. Maybe there’s something to all those rumors. That’s one way to keep the housing market healthy.