TV Choice and Competition Near for Residents of Four More New York Communities

TV Choice and Competition Near for Residents of Four More New York Communities

Municipalities in Onondaga, Westchester and Cayuga Counties Approve Video Franchises for Verizon

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of the Town of Skaneateles and the Village of Fayetteville in Onondaga County, the Town of Pound Ridge in Westchester County, and the Town of Sennett in Cayuga County are a major step closer to having a real choice for their cable television service, thanks to newly approved agreements authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service, delivered over the most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.

The Sennett town board approved the franchise agreement Tuesday night (Sept. 22), while Fayetteville took similar action Sept. 14, Pound Ridge on Sept. 10, and Skaneateles on Sept. 3.

The addition of the Skaneateles, Fayetteville, Pound Ridge and Sennett cable television franchises brings to 165 the total number of New York municipalities that have authorized Verizon to provide FiOS TV service.

The company is in the process of building and installing the necessary video equipment in local central offices in the central New York region, and anticipates that FiOS TV service will be turned on for new customers in municipalities there in the fall.

"Verizon's all-fiber FiOS network is a game-changer for TV and Internet services," said Andres Irlando, Verizon president for the New York region. "The superior technology and the powerful broadband capacity that Verizon FiOS brings into the home beat anything else on the market today - hands down.

"A total fiber network into the home triggers key differentiators of FiOS over traditional cable: picture quality, faster Internet speeds, and technology innovations like FiOS' multi-room DVR and on-screen Twitter and Facebook applications. These are features that traditional cable just can't provide. And these franchise agreements clearly show the customer demand for choice in broadband, television and entertainment services," Irlando said.

Irlando also pointed out that the company has been marketing FiOS Internet and voice services in Skaneateles, Fayetteville, Pound Ridge and Sennett for several years, and has gained a sizable market share. "We want to capitalize on that investment and offer these customers a fuller and more robust set of TV and entertainment services," he said.

As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreements between Verizon and Skaneateles, Fayetteville, Pound Ridge and Sennett are subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

A staple in the New York business community with more than 32,000 employees in the state, Verizon is continuing to invest in the state's infrastructure by building, maintaining and enhancing its wireline and wireless networks across New York, including its state-of-the-art fiber-optic network, providing consumers and businesses with reliable FiOS services for their Internet, entertainment and voice services.

   FiOS TV Service Highlights    FiOS TV service highlights include:     --  More than 500 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.     --  More than 115 HD channels in every FiOS TV market, with extraordinary       clarity and theater-quality sound.     --  An industry-leading library of more than 16,000 video-on-demand (VOD)       titles each month, 70 percent of which are free.  In addition, the VOD       library includes 1,700 HD titles per month.     --  An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) 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.  Among the features of the IMG       are:     --  Multi-Room DVR - Verizon's Home Media DVR allows customers to stream       recorded HD and standard-definition programs to up to six other TV       sets throughout the home.  This includes the ability to watch three       separately recorded shows on three TV sets at the same time, plus       pause recorded programming in one room and continue watching in       another.     --  Media Manager - This feature lets FiOS DVR customers access personal       photos, videos, music and slide shows from their home computers and       play them on their TVs.  Subscribers also can search for and enjoy       online videos from blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh on their TV screens.     --  Widgets - Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to local weather       and traffic reports , daily news and sports headlines and daily       horoscopes, as well as FiOS TV's Widgets Bazaar with interactive       social applications from Facebook and Twitter.  Additional widgets       include:     --  ESPN Fantasy Football - FiOS TV customers who are registered users of       ESPN Fantasy Football will have instant on-screen access to       personalized NFL statistics, including rosters, box scores, scoring       leaders and player information.     --  RedZone Widget - One-stop access to NFL stats and the NFL RedZone       channel, giving customers who subscribe to the channel the ability to       set on-screen alerts for whenever a team is moving inside its       opponent's 20-yard line. The alerts, once set, pop up at the bottom of       the TV screen while subscribers are watching any channel.     --  Free casual games - With the remote control and an HD set-top box,       customers can access chess, solitaire, sudoku and wordplay.     --  "What's Hot on FiOS TV" - Features information on the most-popular       programs currently being broadcast in the region and the most popular       VOD titles.     --  Dual Pause and Play - Allows customers to pause live programming,       change channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up       where they left off.     --  Channel sorting options - Customers can create two separate lists of       favorite channels for family members.  Customers also can filter       channels in the guide by genre, for instances where a customer only       may want to see HD content, international channels or kids       programming, among others.     --  Fantasy Football - FiOS TV customers who are registered users of ESPN       Fantasy Football will have instant on-screen access to personalized       NFL statistics, including rosters, box scores, scoring leaders and       player 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.

FiOS TV is currently available to more than 10.3 million homes in 14 states: California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

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 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice service.*

The Town of Skaneateles, the Village of Fayetteville, the Town of Pound Ridge and the Town of Sennett join a growing list of New York communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. In addition to these three communities, Verizon has been granted cable television franchises in the following municipalities:

   City of New York    Long Island  

Amityville, Asharoken, Atlantic Beach, Massapequa Park, Cedarhurst, Laurel Hollow, Lynbrook, Mineola, East Hills, East Rockaway, Farmingdale, Valley Stream, Freeport, Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Sands Point, Bayville, Old Field, Floral Park, South Floral Park, Garden City, Nissequogue, Northport, Poquott, East Williston, Head of the Harbor, Hewlett Bay Park, Mill Neck, Stewart Manor, Centre Island, Lake Grove, Lawrence, Lindenhurst, Long Beach, Malverne, Manorhaven, Huntington Bay, The Branch, Oyster Bay Cove, Flower Hill, Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Port Washington North, Rockville Centre, Roslyn, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Harbor, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock, Sea Cliff, Thomaston, Bellerose, Lloyd Harbor, Baxter Estates, Hempstead, Cove Neck, Brightwaters, Hewlett Harbor and Westbury; and the towns of North Hempstead, Huntington, Smithtown, Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Islip and Babylon

Westchester County

Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Irvington, Greenburgh, Eastchester, Mount Kisco, Elmsford, Port Chester, Tuckahoe, White Plains, Rye Brook, North Castle, Mount Vernon, Mount Pleasant, Yonkers, Scarsdale, Bronxville, New Rochelle, Cortlandt, Peekskill, Buchanan, Rye, Larchmont, the Village of Mamaroneck, the Town of Mamaroneck, New Castle, Pelham Manor, Sleepy Hollow, Briarcliff Manor, the Town of Ossining, the Village of Ossining and the Town of Yorktown

Rockland County

Nyack, South Nyack, Upper Nyack, Grandview-on-Hudson, Clarkstown, Orangetown, Piermont, Airmont, the Town of Haverstraw, West Haverstraw, Chestnut Ridge, Ramapo, Spring Valley, Stony Point, the Village of Haverstraw, Suffern, Hillburn, Wesley Hills, Montebello, New Hempstead and Pomona

Dutchess County

Wappinger, Wappingers Falls, Village of Fishkill, Town of Fishkill, City of Poughkeepsie and the Town of Poughkeepsie.

   Orange County   Cornwall, Cornwall-on-Hudson, Town of Newburgh and City of Newburgh    Erie County  

Amherst, Blasdell, Lackawanna, Village of Hamburg, Town of Hamburg, West Seneca, Tonawanda, Village of Orchard Park, Town of Orchard Park and Kenmore

   Putnam County   Kent, Carmel    Onondaga County  

DeWitt, Salina, East Syracuse, North Syracuse, Cicero, Clay, Village of Skaneateles, and the Town of Camillus

   Cayuga County   Fleming    * NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.   

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) , headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 87 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. Wireline also includes Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $97 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: John Bonomo of Verizon, +1-212-321-8033,
john.j.bonomo@verizon.com

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

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Profile: International Entertainment