UPDATE 1-Verizon says FiOS buildout may exceed plans
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  (Adds executive's comments, background, dateline, byline)\nBy Ritsuko Ando\nNEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - Verizon Communication Inc\n<VZ.N> said on Tuesday it could build out its all-fiber\nInternet and video network to more than its target of 18\nmillion homes by the end of 2010, despite a weaker U.S. housing\nmarket and softer consumer spending.\nVerizon President and Chief Operating Officer Denny Strigl\nsaid the company could expand FiOS, delivered over an advanced\nnetwork that will cost more than $20 billion to build, at a\nfaster pace than the original plan without a big hike in\nspending.\n"We think we can take our target up. But we're looking at\nthat right now, in terms of the overall economics of doing\nthat," he told a Deutsche Bank conference in New York.\n"We'll pass 12 million by the end of this year, 15 million\nthe next, 18 million the next. I think even within that same\ntime period, there may be some upside for us in number of homes\npassed without significantly changing the capital\nrequirements."\nFiOS competes with cable service providers' bundles of\nphone, video and Internet. Analysts say FiOS generally offers\nfaster Internet service than cable.\nIn addition to the time it takes to connect the fiber\nnetwork through communities and individual households, the FiOS\nbuild-out has been reined in by the slow pace of gaining\nregulatory approval to sell video services.\nIn areas where it has connected the FiOS network but does\nnot yet have a video license, Verizon offers high-speed\nInternet and phone services, as well as a bundle including\nsatellite video services through a partnership with DIRECTV\nGroup Inc <DTV.O>.\nSHRUGS OFF WIRELESS WORRIES\nStrigl also said the weaker U.S. economy was not hurting\nVerizon's wireless business, and shrugged off concerns of the\ncompetitive threat of Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> new iPhone.\nVerizon, together with Vodafone Group Plc <VOD.L>, owns\nVerizon Wireless. The unit is currently the No. 2 U.S. wireless\ncarrier but is set to overtake AT&T Inc <T.N> for the top spot\nif its acquisition of rural wireless carrier Alltel goes\nthrough.\nAT&T is the sole carrier for the iPhone, but Strigl said\nsales of Verizon's high-end phones have risen since the\niPhone's introduction as customers looked for smarter\nhandsets.\n"Of course, we continue to be very alert to what Apple\ndoes. They certainly are a trend setter in the industry. But I\nthink overall we benefit from that," he said.\nAT&T has said it plans to subsidize the price of the latest\niPhone, betting that it would help boost its data services and\nwin customers from rivals like Verizon Wireless.\nAsked about such competition and pricing pressure, Strigl\nsaid he was not seeing a price war yet, but that there could be\nmore "skirmishes" such as the recent flurry of unlimited\npricing plans.\nVerizon Wireless' offer earlier this year of unlimited\ncalls for $99.99 a month was followed by a similar move by\nAT&T.\n"I can tell you today that at the high end we are\nexperiencing a quadrupling of the gross adds that we have seen,\nand a reduction in the churn rate at the high end. So we don't\nthink that plan was at all a price war," he said.\nVerizon shares were down 1.2 percent at $37.47 in afternoon\ntrade, while AT&T shares were down 1.0 percent at $37.18\n(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)\n((ritsuko.ando@thomsonreuters.com; 1 646 223 6084;\nReuters Messaging: ritsuko.ando.reuters.com@reuters.net))\nKeywords: VERIZON FIOS/