Verizon will continue to offer all its other service levels, which have downstream speeds from 15M bps to 50M bps. An existing symmetric service offers 35M bps both upstream and downstream. Existing customers who want the faster service will need a new in-home router, which will be free. In some areas, Verizon will also have to replace a gateway device on the outside of the house, also free of charge, Lee said.

In the third quarter, Verizon added 226,000 FiOS broadband users, reaching a total of 3.9 million. There are 3.3 million users of the related FiOS TV service.

Consumers in some other countries have had home broadband services above 100M bps for the past few years. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, , calls for "affordable" 100M bps broadband for 100 million U.S. households by 2020.