Dover Residents Are One Step Closer to Real Cable TV Choice

Dover Residents Are One Step Closer to Real Cable TV Choice

Verizon Continues to Obtain Cable Franchises in Delaware

DOVER, Del., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Dover residents are a major step closer to real choice for their cable television services, thanks to Monday night's (Jan. 14) unanimous City Council vote authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV here.

Dover now joins Arden, Ardencroft, Ardentown, Bellefonte, Cheswold, Delaware City, Leipsic, Little Creek, Middletown, Newark, Odessa and Townsend in approving Verizon's franchise agreement. Last October, the Delaware Public Service Commission approved Verizon's franchise to serve the unincorporated areas of the state.

FiOS TV, provided over Verizon's all-fiber-optic network, is now available to about 105,000 households in Delaware, and that number is growing rapidly. Verizon also offers FiOS TV in parts of California, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia. New markets are added as the company obtains franchises giving it the legal authority to do so.

"Last night's City Council vote puts Dover consumers a major step closer to true competitive choice in video service providers," said William R. Allan, president of Verizon Delaware. "Competition drives innovation, value and service quality. It puts the consumer in control.

"Verizon will continue to compete aggressively for consumers' business in Delaware with our FiOS services -- fueled by our lightning-fast fiber-optic network," Allan added.

Verizon currently is building its new, all-fiber network in more than half of the states where it provides landline phone service, including the First State. The new technology uses fiber-optic connections -- instead of copper wire -- directly into homes or businesses to enable a broad array of voice, data and video services. Verizon is the only company to connect homes and small businesses directly with fiber optics on a large scale.

Verizon 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 one-touch, on-demand access to real-time local weather and traffic.

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 of up to 15 Mbps.* FiOS Internet Service currently is available to many consumers and small businesses in Delaware.

* NOTE: Actual (throughput) speeds will vary.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, 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 63.7 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of nearly 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 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.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Sandra Arnette of Verizon, +1-302-576-5410,
sandra.u.arnette@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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