Verizon FiOS Customers Face Delays In Getting Free TVs
Tuesday March 4th, 2008 / 16h29
By Roger Cheng Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Customers who signed up for Verizon Communications Inc.'s (VZ) FiOS service and are waiting for free Sharp Corp. (6753.TO) high-definition television will have to wait a little longer. The New York telecommunications-service provider, which blanketed the airwaves in select markets with its promotion throughout last year, had difficulties obtaining enough Sharp TVs to meet demand. The company alerted customers through letters that they would have to wait 10 to 15 weeks - five weeks longer than previously promised - for their sets. As an alternative, Verizon offers customers a similar model Magnavox TV or a $200 gift card for Best Buy Co. (BBY), which would come much sooner. Verizon's suppliers had trouble getting enough Sharp TVs, said spokesman Eric Rabe. As a result, the company changed its promotions in December so that it no longer promised that particular brand. The offer ended late last month, he added. Verizon's FiOS offering, an $18 billion gambit that delivers higher speed Internet, television and phone service via a fiber-optic line connected directly into the home, has had strong demand, partly driven by its aggressive promotions and door-to-door sales tactics. As a result, the company has taken market share away from its cable competitors, and as of the end of the year, boasted a base of 943,000 subscribers. But the growth has come with hiccups. The delays in the promotional TVs is one minor issue. But Verizon has also faced a delay in HDTV set-top boxes, which it blamed on a supply-chain problem suffered by vendor Motorola Inc. (MOT). The shortage came after a spike in orders during the holiday season. Other cable companies, which use Motorola boxes, were unaffected. Verizon continues to be aggressive in pushing its FiOS service. It has gotten into the television game as a way to prevent customers who have canceled their fixed-line telephone service from moving to cable, which offers an Internet-based phone offering. The free TVs were meant to promote the large number of HD channels FiOS can deliver. The cable companies now deal with network capacity constraints that limit the number of HD channels they can deliver. Shares of Verizon traded recently at $35.79, down 1.4%. -By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; roger.cheng@dowjones.com
