Looks like rumors of Verizon’s FiOS Internet service speeding up are true. I’ve been told to wait for news next week. A press conference will be held Monday morning with plans to announce the following:

“Verizon will reveal new choices for local programming available on the Verizon FiOS TV Network in the greater New York/New Jersey region. …The company also will discuss several new promotions and compelling broadband developments.”

Okay, so that’s not Orange County, but any movement over in the East could travel this way. And hopefully fast!

The original rumor (spotted on DSL Reports) started on Verizon FiOS’ message boards with an “employee” hinting of an upgrade this weekend:

“I am going to say hold off on you calling the billing office to get a (sic) higher speeds. Call on or after the 21st to upgrade your 10/2 connection and you will go up in speeds. I’ll disperse the info on 6/20″

How much faster can FiOS get? Today, Verizon offers download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second, and upload speeds of 20 Mbps.

But as I mentioned last December, the company expected to have the technology ready this year to hit the 100 Mbps mark. However, at the time Verizon said it had no plans to offer that speed in 2009 (See “Verizon FiOS: 100 Mbps Internet? Yes. Next year? Nope.“).

FiOS users can cross their fingers. Or, this could be another speed boost similar to the one announced a year ago this week, when FiOS bumped up customers from 30 Mbps to 50 Mbps, (see the earlier “Speed up your Verizon FiOS Internet for free; just ask“).

Maybe they’ll bump everyone up a notch without raising prices? It’s definitely interesting that Verizon is pursuing this faster fiber-optic-based Internet technology at a time when other Internet providers are pondering limits on unlimited use or at least charging per byte.

For those counting, here’s the top speeds offered by Orange County’s broadband players:

I will report the news as soon as I find out myself.

For those wondering, Verizon FiOS is Verizon’s fiber-optic Internet and TV service. The company is attempting to compete with cable TV companies and received a lot of positive reviews. Consumer complaints have focused around the difficulty of actually getting the service at home. In Orange County, FiOS is available in parts of these cities:  Brea, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton, Westminster and certain unincorporated areas. I keep an updated list of O.C. cities HERE.

More Verizon FiOS news:

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