If you live in the city of Boston, those “FiOS Guy” commercials are about close as you’re going to get to Verizon’s fiber-optic cable/phone/internet service in the foreseeable future.

Verizon says that they’re essentially finished with their initial plans to create enough FiOS networks to compete with existing cable and internet providers. So rather than continue to expand into new neighborhoods — at an estimated cost to Verizon of $1350/home for replacing existing copper lines with fiber-optics — the company is focusing on completing the networks in those areas where they’ve already secured rights to sell the service.

“Now it’s time for us to take a pause and focus on all the communities where we’ve begun to build the service,” a rep for the company tells the Boston Globe.

As for Verizon’s specific plans in the Boston area, Verizon confirms that they’re still negotiating with the communities of Foxborough, Duxbury, and Hopedale, but “that’s it for now,” says the spokesperson. “I don’t know what the future holds.”

Boston isn’t the only major city left out in the cold by Verizon’s decision to put the brakes on FiOS expansion. Baltimore is similarly bereft of the service, and Verizon has only put FiOS networks in parts of 16 states, almost all on the East Coast.

Verizon winds down expensive FiOS expansion [USA Today and Boston Globe]

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