Happy Holidays New Jersey Consumers: Video Choice and Competition is on the Way

Happy Holidays New Jersey Consumers: Video Choice and Competition is on the Way

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Approves Verizon's State-Issued Franchise

Verizon's Superior FiOS TV Service Available Shortly in New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon announced plans to make its industry-leading FiOS TV service available to about 100 New Jersey communities after the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities today approved the first state-issued video franchise agreement. The BPU's forward-looking decision will lead to a new era of video services and true competition in the state's video marketplace.

"Today's decision opens the door to a new world of superior home entertainment in New Jersey, and it's a huge victory for consumers," said Dennis Bone, president of Verizon New Jersey. "With the New Jersey market now open to competition, we will soon offer this service to hundreds of thousands of consumers in about 100 communities, and it will make New Jersey one of the most competitive states in the nation."

The BPU's approval comes just over a month after Verizon filed the first state-issued video franchise application under New Jersey's new, pro-consumer video franchise law. In that filing, Verizon announced plans to bring its FiOS television service to 316 communities, or 70 percent of the households in the state, with more to come. As a result of the approval, Verizon plans to begin marketing its service to communities in Bergen, Camden, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties in the next few weeks. Additional communities in Essex, Mercer, and Union counties will be added in the next couple of months. A list of communities will be announced in early January.

"We're looking forward to quickly offering consumers in New Jersey the industry's absolute best product in home entertainment," said William Foshay, Verizon's senior vice-president and general manager, New Jersey region. "FiOS TV will bring something to consumers they've never had before: incredible picture and sound clarity and innovative new services -- all from a brand they trust and believe in."

Verizon's FiOS TV Premier package delivers 200 all-digital channels for $42.99 per month. The package includes more than 20 high-definition (HD) channels and access to approximately 4,000 on-demand titles, 60 percent of which are free. It is delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which has industry-leading quality and reliability.

FiOS TV is the company's new fiber-optic television service, delivered over the only all-digital, fiber network that is being made available, on a mass scale, to millions of individual homes and businesses. It offers a better-quality picture, more high-definition and on-demand programs, and more reliable service at competitive prices. Only Verizon's FTTP network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes and businesses.

"Our all-fiber-optic network delivers a superior customer experience today and has an abundance of bandwidth for the exciting services we'll offer in the future," said Bone. "Bringing the FiOS service to the home is just the beginning. We have great things in store for 2007, and that's why consumers can't wait to be the first to be a part of Verizon's fiber experience."

Foshay said, "All customers want is more channels, more choice and more value, delivered on an all-fiber, next-generation network. Once consumers see and experience the fiber difference, we expect our FiOS broadband products to be the must-have television and data services in communities throughout the state."

Verizon will contact consumers when its FiOS television services are ready to be marketed and installed. Verizon already provides super-fast FiOS Internet Service in nearly 200 communities in the state.

Consumers can check online at http://www.verizonfios.com/ to see if FiOS TV is already available in their area, or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS TV is available. Consumers also can call their local Verizon sales office at 1-888-GET-FIOS.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a New York-based 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 57 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which operates one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks, and Verizon Telecom, which is deploying the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers. 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: Rich Young, +1-973-649-2279, richard.j.young@verizon.com

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

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

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