Fiber to the home

In some parts of the country, phone companies are installing fiber optic cables to homes and businesses to replace the copper the rest of us have. These carry voice and data. This requires an interface box and a battery backup system to ensure that the phone doesn't go away when the power does. A picture of one can be found at:


http://fiosblog.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_fiosblog_archive.html

It isn't clear that FIOS actually stands for anything.
Verizon (who uses the FIOS moniker) also supplies a wired or wireless router, and of course you need to use them as your ISP. Apparently the battery backup unit which supplies power to the interface uses 11 W constantly. Since this doesn't replace a router, this is all new consumption compared to DSL or cable broadbanc (though FIOS gives higher data rates and the battery backup).