FiOS TV getting small-business traction

Bob Malone likes to provide TV service to the customers waiting at his Kwik Kar oil and lube shop in Carrollton, Tex., a Dallas suburb, but he was irritated by how often his DISH Network satellite service went out during a storm. So when Verizon came along with FiOS TV, Malone was quick to sign up – the first business to do so, in fact.

“I chose Verizon because they are my phone company and I went to FiOS for Internet service and have had such good customer service from them that I’ve moved everything to Verizon,” Malone said in a telephone interview. In fact, at his home, Malone disconnected his DSL service from another provider and is using Verizon Wireless EVDO data instead and switched his cellphone service from T-Mobile to Verizon as well. “I am extremely happy with the customer care and service I get from them.”

Not all business users of FiOS TV may be the walking Verizon commercial that Malone is, but Verizon said it is making inroads in the small business arena since it launched service for that market in May. The launch came in part in response to cable competitors that are making a big push into the small to mid-sized business space, selling video along with voice and data services.

“We are seeing significant traction there,” said Monte Beck, vice president of business marketing for Verizon. “Generally this is a new market for us, although we had been selling to some SMBs with DirecTV [Verizon’s satellite partner]. We are offering a best-in-class small business Internet service with FiOS, and we can bundle TV in as well.”

Much of the small business usage of TV services is like Malone’s at Kwik Kar – doctors, car dealers and others providing customers with TV service in a waiting room area, Beck said. The single largest group of customers are restaurants, bars and taverns that use TV service as an attraction, often showing sporting events and more, Beck added.