TV Choice and Competition Approved for Residents of Wilsonville, Ore.

TV Choice and Competition Approved for Residents of Wilsonville, Ore.

City Council Approves Video Franchise for Verizon; FiOS TV for 5,000 Households on the Way

WILSONVILLE, Ore., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilsonville residents are a major step closer to having a real choice for their television services, thanks to a newly approved agreement authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service, delivered over the most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.

In a unanimous vote, the Wilsonville City Council granted a video franchise to Verizon Monday night (August 20), paving the way for video competition and choice for local consumers.

"People want options in their video service provider, and Verizon looks forward to providing area residents with a dramatic new choice that will forever change their TV viewing experience," said David Valdez, Verizon Northwest region president. "Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will compete aggressively in Clackamas County with our FiOS services."

Wilsonville joins a growing list of Portland metro communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. In addition to Wilsonville, Verizon has been granted video franchises by the cities of Dundee, McMinnville and Newberg in Yamhill County, as well as 10 cities in Washington County and by Washington County itself. The company expects to offer FiOS TV service in these communities late this year or early next year.

Verizon is the first and only major telecommunications company to be certified by the independent Fiber to the Home Council as providing customers with 100 percent fiber-optic service, the ultimate communications and entertainment technology.

Verizon, the first company to connect homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread national scale, offers its FiOS voice and Internet service in more than 1,800 cities in 16 states including Washington and Oregon, and provides its FiOS TV service in more than 500 cities in 12 states. Verizon's FiOS TV is a formidable competitor to cable and satellite, offering a broad collection of all-digital programming, more than 25 high- definition (HD) channels in most markets and access to more than 8,600 on- demand titles, 60 percent of which are free.

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 delivers Internet download speeds of up to 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice service.*

*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 more than 62 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 more than 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.

Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Kevin Laverty of Verizon Communications Inc., +1-425-261-5855,
kevin.laverty@verizon.com

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

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

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Profile: International Entertainment