Irvington, N.Y., Consumers One Step Closer to Real Choice for Cable TV

Irvington, N.Y., Consumers One Step Closer to Real Choice for Cable TV

Verizon's FiOS TV Will Transform the Market for Cable Competition, Choice and Value

IRVINGTON, N.Y., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of this Westchester County village are one step closer to choice for their cable television services, thanks to the Village Board of Trustees' vote last night (Oct. 16) to award a video franchise to Verizon for its FiOS TV service. Also last night, the Long Island communities of Farmingdale, Valley Stream and the Town of Huntington granted Verizon video franchises, increasing the company's total number of franchises in the state to 19.

Irvington is the 2nd Westchester County community to grant Verizon a cable franchise, following the Town of Greenburgh. In addition to Farmingdale, Valley Stream and the Town of Huntington, Verizon has been awarded cable franchises by the Long Island communities of Massapequa Park, Cedarhurst, Laurel Hollow, Lynbrook, Mineola, East Rockaway, Smithtown, the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay, as well as the Rockland County villages of Nyack, South Nyack, Upper Nyack, Grandview-on-Hudson and Clarkstown.

Irvington joins this growing list of New York communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreement between Irvington and Verizon is subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

"This is great news for the residents of Irvington, who now have more choice for their video entertainment," said Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut. "Choice and competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will continue to compete for New York consumers' communications, broadband and video business with our FiOS services."

"We look forward to similarly successful negotiations with other towns and villages throughout New York state," said Azare.

Verizon, which launched FiOS TV in September 2005 in Keller, Texas, currently offers the service in parts of California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia. The company now has video franchises covering approximately 3 million households in nine states and more than 100 franchise areas. As the fiber network is fully deployed in franchise areas, Verizon will provide consumers with the opportunity to choose FiOS TV.

Verizon's FiOS TV service is designed to be a formidable competitor to cable and satellite, offering a broad collection of all-digital programming, more than 20 high-definition channels, video on demand and more. It is delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which has industry-leading quality and reliability. Verizon is the first company to offer such a communications network, connecting homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread scale.

Verizon's fiber network delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. 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 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 10 Mbps.* FiOS Internet Service is currently available in many New York communities.

* 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 nearly 55 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 252,000 and generates annual consolidated operating revenues of approximately $90 billion. For more information, visit http://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 http://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: Heather Wilner of Verizon, +1-212-321-8333,
heather.b.wilner@verizon.com

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

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

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