Andru Edwards moved to the Northshore area as a matter of health, at least for his business.

What he needed was fiber.

The Bothell resident runs Gear Live (www.gearlive.com), an online magazine for techies who want a bit of celebrity gossip, sports news or film analysis to go along with their gadget reviews.

Edwards launched his site in 2004, basing the operation out of his former home in north Seattle.

He moved his family and business to Bothell 15 months ago to take advantage of the new FiOS service offered by Verizon Communications, which provides the only fiber-optic phone, television and high-speed Internet access in the state.

The advantage, Edwards says, is capacity.

“I can upload faster and publish more videos,” he said. “I’ve added six figures to my income that way.”

Verizon’s fiber-optic network can deliver Internet speeds of up to 50 Mbps, whereas cable competitors are stuck with a maximum of around 16 Mbps.

The city of Bothell has joined eight other municipalities — including Kenmore — in signing a franchise agreement that allows the telecommunications company to create a fiber-optic network in the north Puget Sound region.

Edwards claims he deliberately searched for homes in the Verizon service area after learning that the company was bringing FiOS to Washington.

“My primary goal was to move to a place where the service existed,” he said. “It was ridiculous to my wife that we would move for an Internet connection, but it’s paid off.”

Comcast was the only service provider to offer bundled communications packages throughout much of the north Puget Sound until Verizon opened its FiOS network Sept. 9.

Cable providers like Comcast have controlled the flow of digital data to U.S. households for some time now with their coaxial lines.

Those companies gained an early advantage, being the first to set up networks throughout most of the country.

Satellite later joined a service-bundling war and benefitted from needing little infrastructure.

Verizon has been scrambling to catch up since 2004, beginning with a multi-billion-dollar initiative to run fiber-optic lines through selected areas of the country.

The effort began in Texas, California, Florida and along the Eastern Seaboard.

Now the telecommunications company is reaching into Washington, with the greater Northshore area being its first target.

Verizon is now offering its FiOS service to more than 80,000 households in the state.

The city of Seattle has never agreed to sign on, which is why Edwards made the move to Bothell.

“I heard of FiOS, and I knew it was being rolled out in Washington,” he said. “I knew I’d never get it in Qwest territory.”

Cable does have its advantages. The industry’s heaviest hitters have been at it for a long time, and that can equate to a good relationship with customers, not to mention an understanding of what they want.

The state legislature is considering a bill that would revise regulations for telecommunications companies, giving them more flexibility to market and bundle their services.

This would make it easier for companies like Verizon and Comcast to compete with each other.

One of the primary sponsors of that bill is Rep. Mark Ericks of Bothell. He spoke at the Sept. 9 FiOS launch party in Lynnwood.

“I know that a level playing field means that people will have better choices,” he said. “Doing away with the regulations that stand in that way is part of my job.

“I know that (FiOS) is going to provide a great service to the people of my district.”