Philadelphia Residents Major Step Closer to Cable TV Choice

Philadelphia Residents Major Step Closer to Cable TV Choice

City Council Approves Franchise Ordinance Authorizing Verizon to Offer Its Award-Winning FiOS TV Service; First City Residents Will Be Able to Order Service Within a Year

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Philadelphia City Council on Thursday (Feb. 5) unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing Verizon Pennsylvania to offer its all-fiber-optic FiOS TV service to city residents. As part of the 15-year cable franchise included in the legislation, Verizon will make FiOS TV available throughout the city over the next seven years. The ordinance now moves to Mayor Michael A. Nutter for his signature into law. The following statement should be attributed to Gale Y. Given, president of Verizon Pennsylvania:

"Today's City Council approval of Verizon's cable TV franchise will finally bring Philadelphians choice and competition for their pay-TV service. And Verizon is eager to begin offering city residents FiOS TV, an award-winning, superior alternative to their current cable TV service, with twice as many high-definition channels as Comcast and innovative interactive features cable companies don't provide.

"We commend Mayor Nutter and his administration; the Committee on Public Property and Public Works, under the leadership of Committee Chair Darrell Clark; and the entire City Council for their thorough review of the franchise. We also thank the many Philadelphia residents who provided testimony, or wrote or called their Council members to support competition and choice.

"We urge Mayor Nutter to sign the ordinance expeditiously so that Verizon can start bringing the many benefits of cable TV choice to Philadelphia residents in 2009."

Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Sharon Shaffer, +1-215-963-6200, sharon.b.shaffer@verizon.com

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

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