Anne Arundel County Becomes Fourth Jurisdiction in Maryland to Grant Verizon a Video Franchise

Anne Arundel County Becomes Fourth Jurisdiction in Maryland to Grant Verizon a Video Franchise

County's Consumers Closer to Real Choice for Cable TV

ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Anne Arundel County consumers are a major step closer to real choice for their cable television services, thanks to last night's (July 5) unanimous county council vote authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV here.

Anne Arundel County is now the fourth jurisdiction in Maryland to grant Verizon a video franchise, joining Howard County, Bowie and Laurel. Verizon currently offers FiOS TV in parts of Clarksville, Columbia and Ellicott City in Maryland and in six other states: California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia. Verizon is adding new markets as it obtains franchises giving it the legal authority to do so.

Verizon expects to unveil its FiOS TV service to Anne Arundel County residents within the next couple of months.

"Our agreement with Anne Arundel County represents great progress for consumers who are eager for more competitive choice in their video service providers," said William R. Roberts, president of Verizon Maryland. "We salute county officials who have made the right call for their constituents.

"Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will compete aggressively for Anne Arundel County consumers' communications, broadband and video business with our FiOS services, which are fueled by our lightning-fast fiber-optic network," said Roberts.

Under the 15-year agreement, Verizon will pay the county franchise fees based on the company's gross revenues on cable services.

Verizon's FiOS TV provides an extensive array of digital video and music channels, high-definition channels, on-demand titles and features such as FiOS TV Widgets, which supplies on-touch, on-demand access to real-time local weather and traffic. FiOS TV is delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the- premises network, the largest of its kind in the country.

In addition to FiOS TV, Verizon's fiber network also allows the company to offer consumers and businesses high-speed FiOS Internet Service at download speeds of up to 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds up to 5 Mbps.* FiOS Internet Service currently is available to many Maryland consumers and small businesses in Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

* NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 53 million customers nationwide. Verizon Business operates one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks. Verizon Telecom is deploying the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers. Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 250,000 and generates annual consolidated operating revenues of approximately $90 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Media, Sandra Arnette of Verizon, +1-410-393-7109,
sandra.u.arnette@verizon.com

Web site: http://www.verizon.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

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