Happy New Year for Chester, Pa., Consumers: Verizon's FiOS TV Now Available to More Than 3,600 Households

Happy New Year for Chester, Pa., Consumers: Verizon's FiOS TV Now Available to More Than 3,600 Households

Verizon Offers Innovative, Superior Choice for TV Service, Delivered Over the Nation's Most Advanced All-Fiber-Optic Network Straight to Consumers' Homes

CHESTER, Pa., Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of television is arriving for consumers and businesses in parts of this city as Verizon introduces FiOS TV over its revolutionary fiber-optic network here.

Verizon FiOS TV is available now to more than 3,600 households in areas south of Interstate 95 and west of the Commodore Barry Bridge. Verizon's launch of FiOS TV in Chester follows a unanimous City Council vote on Dec. 17 approving a cable TV franchise with the company, enabling Verizon to offer Chester residents a superior alternative for their TV entertainment.

"Cable can't come close to matching the HD channels or the innovative features and enhancements FiOS TV customers enjoy," said Gale Y. Given, president of Verizon Pennsylvania. "We've harnessed the vast capacity of our advanced fiber-optic network to deliver a revolutionary, new entertainment experience."

J.D. Power and Associates recently ranked FiOS TV the "Highest in Residential Television Service Satisfaction in the East Region," which includes Pennsylvania.

Verizon currently offers FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services to more than 200 communities in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, and the Philadelphia City Council is considering a cable franchise agreement with Verizon to offer that city's residents video choice.

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

   FiOS TV Service Highlights    FiOS TV service highlights include:    --  More than 500 all-digital channels grouped by genres such as       entertainment, sports, news, marketplace, movies and family, making it       easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.    --  Approximately 106 high-definition channels in southeastern       Pennsylvania, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.    --  An industry-leading library of more than 14,000 video-on-demand (VOD)       titles each month, 8,500 of which are free of charge.  The VOD library       also includes 1,200 HD VOD titles per month.    --  An innovative Interactive Media Guide that helps customers quickly and       easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, VOD catalogs and the       digital video recorder (DVR), as well as personal music and photos       from a home network.    --  A unique Home Media DVR that now allows customers to stream recorded       HD programs to six other TV sets throughout the home equipped with HD       set-top boxes.  The feature, which has been available for       standard-definition programming, includes the ability to watch three       separately recorded shows on three sets at the same time, plus pause       recorded programming in one room and continue watching in another.    

The value of FiOS TV extends to the installation and customer support. Specially trained Verizon technicians will install the service and acquaint subscribers with FiOS TV features and services. Verizon is waiving the installation fee for up to three existing TV outlets, and there is no charge to install a needed optical network terminal at the subscriber's home. Charges for other installation services, such as additional outlets, may apply. Verizon provides 24 x 7 technical assistance by phone from its specialized Fiber Solutions Centers.

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. This network 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.

FiOS Internet Highlights

Verizon's 50/20 FiOS Internet connection is the fastest available to U.S. consumers, and the company's 20/20 symmetrical service is the first of its kind commercially available to U.S. consumers on a mass scale. Pioneering a new category of broadband for the American consumer, Verizon's symmetrical FiOS provides the ultra-fast, two-way speeds crucial for such burgeoning online activities as video conferencing, social networking and super-fast uploading of electronic photo albums or home videos, as well as multi-player gaming and online work collaboration.

Verizon's FiOS Internet service was named the top pick this year in PC Magazine's reader survey and also was named a winner in PC World Magazine's annual list of 100 Best Products. It was the second year in a row the broadband service was named to both lists.

At 50 Mbps, downloading a 5 GB (gigabyte) file, such as 112-minute, high-definition movie purchased online, takes approximately 13.3 minutes, while a 50 MB (megabyte) or 60-minute Web video takes 8 seconds, and a 5 MB MP3 music file takes less than eight-tenths of a second.

Using a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a consumer could upload a 250 megabyte (MB) file of 200 photos in about 90 seconds, instead of the roughly 47 minutes it takes over a 768 kilobit-per-second (Kbps) upstream connection. A 3 gigabyte (GB) file, such as a one-hour family video shot with a high-definition video camera, could be uploaded in around 20 minutes, compared with more than nine hours with 768 Kbps upstream.

Consumers in Chester can check online at www.verizon.com/fiostv for more information or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services become available. Customers also can call their local Verizon sales office or 888-438-3467.

* 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 71 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 228,000 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:

Source: Verizon

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

Web Site: http://www.verizon.com/
http://www.verizon.com/fiostv

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

---

Profile: International Entertainment