Snohomish County, Wash., Awards Video Franchise to Verizon

Snohomish County, Wash., Awards Video Franchise to Verizon

Vote Paves the Way for Innovative, Competitive Choice for TV Service, Delivered Over the Nation's Most Advanced All-Fiber-Optic Network Straight to Consumers' Homes

EVERETT, Wash., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of unincorporated areas of Snohomish County are a major step closer to having an innovative, reliable and competitive alternative for their television services, thanks to a unanimous vote by the County Council Wednesday (Aug. 27) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV.

Snohomish County is the 10th community in the state to grant a video franchise to Verizon, following recent approvals in Bothell, Brier, Edmonds, Everett, Kenmore, Lynnwood, Marysville, Woodinville and Woodway. The company plans to begin offering FiOS TV in Washington later this year.

FiOS TV offers consumers a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality from the only TV service delivered over the nation's most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses.

"Approval of Verizon's video franchise is great news for the residents of Snohomish County, who will soon have more choice for their video entertainment," said David S. Valdez, senior vice president for Verizon's Pacific Northwest region. "We commend the county executive, the County Council and their staff for their dedication and hard work throughout this process. They recognize and support the technological advantage and competitive benefits, as well as the distinctive edge in economic development and quality of life, that fiber will bring to their community.

"We look forward to reaching similar agreements with other Washington communities," said Valdez.

The franchise vote gives Verizon the authority to offer FiOS TV to up to 80,000 households in Snohomish County. Many Verizon customers in Washington are already enjoying FiOS Internet service, which delivers ultra-fast download speeds up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second).*

Verizon already provides FiOS TV in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

FiOS TV Service Highlights

FiOS TV service highlights include:

-- More than 400 all-digital channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.

-- A wide array of high-definition channels, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound. The company plans to significantly expand the HD lineup to include all available major HD programming by year-end.

-- An industry-leading library of more than 11,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month, 70 percent of which are free. In addition, Verizon offers an increasing number of VOD titles in high definition, with plans for 1,000 HD VOD titles per month by year-end.

-- An easy-to-use interactive media guide that integrates HD programming, on-demand content and the digital video recorder along with broadcast television into a seamless user experience.

-- Set-top boxes ranging from a standard-definition box to the Home Media DVR, featuring a multi-room DVR that enables up to three simultaneous viewings of recorded programs without requiring customers to set up a complex home network or buy extra equipment. The recorder is bundled with Media Manager, a feature that lets customers easily access photos and music from their personal computer and play them on their entertainment center where they look and sound the best.

-- FiOS TV Widgets, a free interactive feature that provides local weather and traffic information.

Programming choices for Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Russian and other multicultural audiences are available in every market, making FiOS TV an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

Everett consumers can check online at www.verizon.com/fios for more information or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS TV becomes available. Customers also can call their local Verizon sales office or 888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467).

FiOS TV is delivered over Verizon's all-fiber-optic network, which brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people's homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber 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. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps* (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice services.

* 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 nearly 69 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 employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,600 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 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: Kevin Laverty, +1-425-261-5855, kevin.laverty@verizon.com; or
Jon Davies, +1-805-372-6969, jon.davies@verizon.com, both for Verizon

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

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