Verizon unveils wireless broadband for homes

Wireless on Tuesday announced a version of its wireless broadband service that's designed for use in rural and remote homes that can't get DSL or cable, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The service, called HomeFusion, could also appeal to some households where DSL is the only fixed-line option, since it's faster than most DSL services.

HomeFusion requires the installation of a cylindrical antenna, about the size of a five-gallon bucket, on an outside wall, The Washington Post notes.

The hardware costs $200, but the work is free.

Service starts at $60 per month for 10GB of data. That's enough of a monthly data allotment to download the complete works of Shakespeare 2 000 times, or to watch about 10 hours of HD-quality video using an Internet streaming service such as Netflix.

It is important to note that this service will not be covered by any net neutrality regulations in place in the US, since the current laws exclude wireless networks, ExtremeTech writes.

Since the concept of fixed mobile convergence was never addressed in the net neutrality rules, the service falls under the jurisdiction of wireless Internet services and is not subject to the rules that wireline Internet services have to follow.

Curiously, this also flies in the face of Verizon Wireless' recent statements to the government, saying it is quickly exhausting the spectrum it has allocated for LTE services and needs more. As T-Mobile pointed out, Verizon has plenty of spectrum for LTE services, and this new offering seems to validate that.