Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) has taken to the phone lines in its all-out efforts to land customers for its “high-speed Internet” service which supports up to 1 mbps, after a deluged of direct-mail pieces that also pushed the promotion.
With time running out ―the deal ends at month’s end ― Verizon is calling customers and leaving long, automated voice mails to get consumers to sign up at $9.95 per month for the first six months of a one-year term.
The final six months, according to the mail pieces and voice mail, carry a $19.95 a month price, not including fees and taxes. The Internet offering is being promoted as a standalone service as opposed to part of a multiservice bundle.
The direct-mail pieces and voice mail did not say how widely or narrowly the deal is being offered.
The promo comes at a time when multi-megabit Internet speeds have become the norm in many markets, with speed becoming a greater must-have than the lowest price. Add in the myriad of content access and sharing capabilities and fat pipes become expected.
Also, promotions are typically pushed hard at the outset, but less aggressively closer to their expiration. Contrast that to the Verizon approach with the $9.95 a month Internet, which has less than two weeks left to run.
Promoting what many considered to be “low-speed Internet” alone and on price in cable-dominated markets which also feature Internet via satellite operators, raises questions as to the mission and the goal of the promotion – and the nature in which it’s being pushed.
A slow-speed option such as this with a low price promo might be better focused in areas largely deprived of broadband connections, such as lightly settled rural or remote locations, though that’s historically where DSL is least likely to be available.
This Internet-only promo also comes at a time where the telco is marketing triple-play bundles, which include TV from DIRECTV, in areas just months away – or less – from having access to its FiOS TV service.