“FiOS (News - Alert) is the foundation of our growth strategy in the consumer market,” Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo said, and it is hard to argue with the strategy.

In the first quarter of 2013, consumer fixed network revenues grew 4.3 percent, driven by increased FiOS revenue, which now represents 69 percent of consumer revenue, Verizon (News - Alert) Communications reported.

More to the point, Verizon now says that 66 percent of its consumer fixed network customers buy a triple-play service, including voice, Internet and video. 

That is worth noting. One way to look at it is that more than 66 percent of Verizon customers now buy their video entertainment service from Verizon.

That alone represents a noteworthy change from Verizon’s business of a decade ago.

FiOS customers buy fixed network voice service from Verizon as well. Keep in mind that some 34 percent of U.S. homes no longer buy fixed voice service.

If Verizon can hang on to those triple-play customers, and more importantly get most of its FiOS-capable customers to buy triple-play packages, it might have found a way to resist further voice erosion by changing the value-price relationship.

If consumers deem purchase of a triple-play package to provide value and price benefits, it really won’t matter whether they “value” fixed network voice or not. They simply will buy it to get the other value (Internet access and video).

The big future challenge will come when the second leg of the triple play (video entertainment) starts to experience more pressure. The experience with voice suggests the likely avenue Verizon will follow.

Verizon will embed video with other services, especially mobile services, to maintain the overall value of the bundle, even for those customers who value video entertainment less than they once did.

Also, FiOS seems to be the answer for potential average revenue per user or average revenue per account issues.

Already, FiOS customers are said to represent 69 percent of consumer fixed network revenues, even though FiOS Internet penetration is just 38 percent, and FiOS video penetration is only 34 percent of the customer base.

Those figures suggest a necessity for Verizon: triple-play packages might be the only way to resist customer attrition or revenue per account softness in the future, when demand for video entertainment changes.

Keep in mind that average consumer account revenue is about $107 a month. FiOS ARPU is higher than $150 per month. 

Triple and quad plays will in the future be the principal ways Verizon and other landline telcos hang on to overall revenue, as demand for components of the bundle decrease.