Verizon Cloud for smartphones & tablets, introduced in April, now available for iOS

Tom Paine

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In late April, Verizon Wireless introduced Verizon Cloud for smartphones and tablets, a cloud storage service available only to Verizon Wireless customers. Originally it ran on only certain Android models, but Verizon Wireless announced in late May that it is now available for iOS devices and additional Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the DROID DNA by HTC. Verizon Cloud allows for up to 125 GB of storage, although only the first 500 MB are free. Beyond that, pricing ranges from $2.99 a month for a 25GB plan to $9.99 for 125GB. That's competitive with DropBox's 100GB plan, but is roughly double the price of 100GB offerings from Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive.

Verizon Wireless emphasizes Verizon Cloud's ability to store phone-centric files (for example, saving copies of contact lists, text messages and call logs, although these features reportedly don't work on the iOS version), and to transfer some content between Android and iOS devices. It also stresses its potential value to multiple users sharing a data plan across several devices.

Verizon Cloud appears to supplant an existing, more limited Verizon Wireless utility called Backup Assistant, although current Backup Assistant users are switched over to Verizon Cloud.

Verizon Cloud was panned by some reviewers as being a me-too, less than price competitive, offering. An interesting aspect of Verizon Cloud, however, is that its technology was developed by Terremark, David Samberg, National PR Manager for Verizon Wireless told me in a phone interview. Terremark is Verizon Communication's (not Verizon Wirless') enterprise-grade cloud services unit; Verizon Communications owns 55% of Verizon Wireless. Terremark's proficiency in cloud services suggests a possibility that Verizon may have broader ambitions for Verizon Cloud, both on the consumer and SME (Small & Medium Enterprise) markets in the future. See Verizon's Shammo: SMB cloud is a great opportunity for growth.




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Frontier's Wilderotter: Our hick customers don't need more than 6 Mbps

Tom Paine

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At the J.P. Morgan 41st Annual Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston last week, Stamford, Connecticut-based Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR) Chairman & CEO Maggie Wilderotter implied that most of its largely rural customer base did not really need (or want) much faster broadband speeds.

"In a lot of the big urban markets [like Boston] there a lot more power users, but a lot of our rural customers are not power users so 80 percent in our footprint use 6 Mbps or less, so the target sweet spot for these promotional offers we are putting in place is an aggressive price point that gets people on basic service - that that's all they need," Wilderotter said. She did say that in 42% of its footprint Frontier can offer 20 Mbps and it can offer 12 Mbps to 54%.

In May of 2009, Frontier acquired 4.8 million access lines - mostly rural and copper-based, from Verizon for $8.6 billion, tripling the size of the company (the deal closed in 2010).