Verizon Communications wants you to be able to download a two-hour feature movie in the amount of time it takes to microwave a bag of popcorn.

The telecommunications behemoth announced plans to launch a 150/35 megabits-per-second (Mbps) Internet service over its all-fiber-optic FiOS network.Verizon has begun to roll out the ultra-high-speed service to the majority of the more than 12.5 million homes that the FiOS network passes, and will make the service available to Verizon FiOS small-business customers by the end of the year.

“By offering the fastest mass-market Internet service in the nation, we’re supporting the immediate and future speed needs of bandwidth-hungry consumers,” said Eric Bruno, Verizon vice president of product management, in a press release. “The new 150/35 Mbps FiOS Internet offer establishes a new benchmark for high-speed Internet in America, and paves the way for a flurry of emerging bandwidth-intensive applications to reach mainstream status.”

That means customers can download a two-hour, standard-definition movie (1.5 gigabytes) in less than 80 seconds, a two-hour HD movie (5 GB) in less than four and a half minutes, or 20 high-resolution photographs (100 megabytes) in less than five and a half seconds using the 150/35 Mbps service. 

The 150/35 Mbps residential offer will be available to the majority of FiOS-eligible households, and sold as a stand-alone service starting at $194.99 a month when purchased with a one-year service agreement and Verizon wireline voice service.

With competitors such as Cablevision Systems Corp. offering speeds of only 101 megabits per second, Verizon’s newest offering earns the company the title of the heavyweight champion of “the nation’s fastest mass-market Internet service.”

In the meantime, Verizon will continue to offer on a stand-alone basis its next-fastest FiOS Internet speed of 50/20 Mbps, as well as its 25/25 and 15/5 speed tiers.  FiOS Internet speeds of 35/35 Mbps, 25/25 Mbps and 15/5 Mbps will continue to be available in double-, triple- and quadruple-play bundles matched with FiOS TV, FiOS Digital Voice and Verizon Wireless service.

Edited by Tammy Wolf