US carrier Verizon shook up the broadband market with the launch of a 20Mbps symmetrical fibre offering this week.

The FiOS 20/20 service gives subscribers an upload and download speed of up to 20Mbps over Verizon’s all fibre network.

This week is has been made available in parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Verizon plans to offer similar symmetrical services in the 13 other states where it offers FiOS soon, coupled with a similar small business offer.

“For more than a decade, the internet has been defined by how quickly you can download content,” said Susan Retta, vice president of Broadband Solutions for Verizon. “Our 20/20 FiOS service changes everything by creating an entirely new category of US broadband where ‘fast’ means fast in both directions.”

Vince Vittore, senior analyst with the Yankee Group said he believes, “that as user-generated content continues to expand and telecommuting increases in popularity, upstream speed will become just as important as downstream for all users.”

The FiOS service is available in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut starting at $64.99 a month.