This is FiOS! This is the Big Apple!

This is FiOS! This is the Big Apple!

Verizon FiOS TV Makes its New York City Debut

Market-Leading 100 HD Channels, Special Pricing Usher in New Age of Television Entertainment and Value

FiOS TV Goes on Sale in 108 Neighborhoods Across the City; Verizon Employees Stage Live 'It's the Network' Event at Grand Central Terminal

NEW YORK, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- There's finally home entertainment that's big enough for The Big Apple as Verizon begins offering FiOS TV service today in New York City.

"New Yorkers at long last have a better choice for TV," said Maura Breen, Verizon general manager for New York. "We've had great success in the suburban areas around the city. Now it's time to put the Verizon FiOS TV show on Broadway -- and eventually every other street, avenue and boulevard in the city -- so New Yorkers can kiss old-fashioned cable good bye."

(Note to media: A webcast news conference will be held today at 11 a.m. ET at www.verizonwebcasts.com/vzt/fioslaunch, or 1-888-577-8991, passcode 7049390. In addition, for local New York City media, video and photo opportunities are available from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at a Verizon "It's the Network" event at the entrance to Grand Central Terminal at Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street.)

Verizon will offer 100 high-definition channels to the metro New York market. (Note: See separate Verizon news release headlined, "Verizon FiOS TV Delivers 100 High-Definition Channels to New Yorkers - on the Network Built for HD.")

"Our advanced fiber-optic network was built for HD, and we're offering more HD options than Time Warner or Cablevision" said Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Telecom. "With all-fiber connections running straight to their homes and apartments, viewers get eye-popping, jaw-dropping TV in both standard and high definition."

Verizon is initially offering FiOS TV to parts of each of the five New York City boroughs. For residents in parts of the first 108 launch neighborhoods (list at end of news release), FiOS TV means an unparalleled viewing experience that comes with unmatched, red-carpet customer service. With this initial launch, some 300,000 households will be able to order and enjoy FiOS TV service and Verizon's FiOS triple-play bundle of FiOS TV, FiOS Internet and wired, reliable telephone service. By the end of 2008, the company expects to have half-a-million homes open for sale in New York City.

Nationally, FiOS Internet is available in parts of 16 states, and FiOS TV is offered in parts of 13 states.

Over the past several weeks, Verizon has been advertising in local newspapers and mailing and placing promotional materials in the initial launch neighborhoods to enable consumers to pre-order the FiOS TV service once the company was given final regulatory approval, which was granted on July 16 by the New York Public Service Commission.

Customers in these neighborhoods have been signing up early for FiOS TV, and Breen noted, "These advance orders blew past all of our projections." Verizon will start installing FiOS TV in customers' homes beginning Wednesday.

Over the next few years, Verizon will place fiber down every street and avenue across all five boroughs to reach all 3.1 million households in the city.

To help launch FiOS TV in New York City, Verizon is offering a selection of power-packed bundles of services, including one for just for just $94.99 a month that features:

-- FiOS Internet service with a maximum connection speed of 20 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.

-- Verizon Freedom Essentials telephone service with unlimited local and long-distance calling.

-- FiOS TV service with 54 free HD channels.

Other bundles are available that include even faster Internet service of 20/20 Mbps, plus all standard- and high-definition premium channels.

To mark the kickoff of FiOS TV in the city, scores of Verizon employees, outfitted in Verizon FiOS TV gear, will greet New Yorkers at Grand Central Terminal today -- a live version of the company's "It's the Network" team seen in company advertisements. The employees and sales consultants will be on hand all day at the Vanderbilt Avenue. (at 43rd Street) entrance to Grand Central to take orders and schedule installation appointments for FiOS TV and the company's triple-play bundle.

Mass media advertising for FiOS TV is scheduled to begin today.

Verizon has met the unique challenge of installing fiber optics directly to multiple dwelling units (MDUs) within the five boroughs. Through the use of bendable fiber, the company is able to creatively snake fiber around curves and tight spaces, without loss of the fiber signal.

Said Breen, "Our engineering and installation teams have been able to wire some 800 MDUs already. Using this innovative technology has really given us a boost in designing build plans for these buildings. And we're in discussions with hundreds of other building and property owners to bring FiOS to their properties. It's a huge marketing advantage to have apartments that are FiOS-ready."

[For more information, including a podcast on how Verizon is using bendable fiber in MDUs in New York City, see press kit at http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/fios-in-nyc/.]

Breen added: "New Yorkers love to do business with the home team. Verizon is as New York as New York gets, with 12,000 city residents employed by the company, and dozens of work centers, garages and switching centers in seemingly every neighborhood. Verizon is intrinsically tied to the everyday hustle and bustle that is only New York City."

   FiOS TV is Currently Available in Parts of the Following NYC Neighborhoods        THE BRONX       Baychester       Bronxdale       Eastchester       Edenwald       Laconia       Norwood       Olinville       Wakefield       Williamsbridge       Woodlawn        BROOKLYN       Bergen Beach       Canarsie       Flatlands       Georgetown       Gravesend       Homecrest       Madison       Manhattan Terrace       Marine Park       Midwood       Mill Basin       Mill Island       Paerdegat Basin        MANHATTAN       Battery Park City       Carnegie Hill       Chelsea       Chinatown       Clinton       East Harlem North       East Harlem South       East Village       Flatiron       Hudson Yards       Lenox Hill       Lower East Side       Midtown       Midtown South       NoHo       Union Square       Upper East Side       Roosevelt Island       West Village       Yorkville        QUEENS       Auburndale       Bayside       Bayside Hills       Bay Terrace       Beechurst       Cambria Heights       Clearview       Douglaston       Douglaston Manor       Far Rockaway       Floral Park       Fresh Meadows       Glen Oaks       Laurelton       Little Neck       Malba       New Hyde Park       Oakland Gardens       Rosedale       South Brookville       Springfield Gardens       Whitestone        STATEN ISLAND       Annadale       Arden Heights       Arlington       Arrochar       Bloomfield       Charleston       Clifton       Dongan Hills       Eltingville       Emerson Hill       Fort Wadsworth       Fox Hills       Granitville       Grasmere       Great Kills       Grymes Hill       Heartland Village       Huguenot       Lighthouse Hill       Mariners Harbor       Midland Beach       New Brighton       New Dorp       New Springville       Oakwood       Oakwood Beach       Old Town       Pt. Ivory       Prince's Bay       Port Richmond       Richmond Valley       Rosebank       Rossville       St. George       Silver Lake       South Beach       Stapleton       Todt Hill       Tottenville       Travis       Westerleigh       West New Brighton       Woodrow     

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 67 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 employed a diverse workforce of approximately 232,000 as of the end of the first quarter 2008 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.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:
http://www.verizon.com

Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Eric Rabe , +1-908-559-3500, Eric.Rabe@Verizon.com, or John
Bonomo, +1-212-321-8033, John.J.Bonomo@Verizon.com , both of Verizon

Web Site: http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/fios-in-nyc

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

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Profile: International Entertainment