Will Verizon’s Internet Speed Leave Google Fiber in the Dust?

Verizon wants to make your Internet experience lightning-fast — even speedier than service Google offers.

Last week, Google Fiber dominated headlines after announcing plans to expand its fiber-optic network for Internet and TV service to San Antonio.

The move will bring the Texas city Internet speeds of “up to one gigabit per second (Gbps) — that’s 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps), compared to the average Internet speed in America today of 11.9 Mbps,” according to Google.

But this week, Verizon is stealing Google Fiber’s spotlight after announcing promises of even faster Internet speeds:

Verizon has successfully completed a test of a new technology on its industry-leading, fiber-to-the-premises network, that in the future could easily provide businesses and consumers with upload and download Internet speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps), and the potential to increase this speed even further.

The technology will have the system capacity to grow to 40-80 Gbps as the market demands, according to Lee Hicks, vice president of network technology for Verizon.

These blazing speeds will be available to customers of Verizon FiOS, the company’s fiber-optics network for Internet, TV and phone services.

But don’t hold your breath. It’ll become available “as the marketplace demands such services and as the technology matures,” Verizon states in a press release issued Tuesday.

So far, Verizon has tested the network in its lab in Waltham, Massachusetts, and also in the field. The field testing was done from Verizon’s headquarters in Framingham, Massachusetts, to a FiOS customer’s home 3 miles away and to a nearby business location.

Fiber-optic technology is the fastest way to transmit data over long distances, CNN Money reports. That’s why Google Fiber and Verizon, as well as companies such as Comcast and AT&T, are working to expand their fiber-optic networks.

Are you looking forward to a fiber-optic Internet connection? Let us know what you think about this technology below or on Facebook.