Verizon expands home networking package

Reaching out to broadband customers who want broadband connectivity both in the home and out, Verizon Connected Solutions said today it would expand its home networking package to parts of New England.

The Verizon Communications subsidiary said it would work primarily with builders to provide home-buyers in Boston, suburban New Hampshire, New Jersey and other parts of Massachusetts with a customized high-speed, high-capacity infrastructure that is built directly into a home’s walls.

“Today, broadband Internet access is expanding and the popular media are bringing increased focus to the home networking of PCs, digital and satellite TV, mp3 music players, online video games and other fruits of digital communications,” said Jim Kenny, general manager of business development and sales at Verizon Connected Solutions in a statement.

A spokesman said homes of varying sizes in the targeted areas would benefit from the package. He said a standard wiring system is purchased initially and that homebuyers and builders can then purchase upgrade options, which Verizon tailors to meet specific customer needs.

“It’s a modular system that is scalable to any home whether it is an average townhouse or a multi-million dollar home,” the spokesman said. “We provide a system that can work to the scale of your home.”

The spokesman also said the system is technology neutral and is not Verizon-specific, supporting services including cable modem, DSL or satellite data uplink capabilities from any carrier – a useful flexibility given the spotty availability of DSL service, for example.

“Just like the beams that are making the house, it is a backbone that provides whatever services are coming into the house regardless of who the provider is,” he said. “There is no bias in the system to whatever the homeowner needs.”

Beginning in 1998, Verizon Connected Solutions has operated mainly in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metro areas. Although the spokesman declined to comment on specific areas Verizon would target next, he said the southeastern United States was attractive.

“Just from Census Bureau data, the southeast is a booming part of the country so we’re certainly looking there,” he said.