Just in Time for Thanksgiving, Verizon Launches a New Era of Television Entertainment in Philadelphia

Just in Time for Thanksgiving, Verizon Launches a New Era of Television Entertainment in Philadelphia

Introduction of Critically Acclaimed FiOS TV Brings 130 HD Channels, New Level of TV Innovation and Interactivity to City Residents, Businesses

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for Thanksgiving and its related activities, Verizon's award-winning FiOS TV is now available in parts of Philadelphia.

"The superb picture-and-sound quality of FiOS TV will enable consumers to watch the parade and football on Thanksgiving Day as they've never watched those events before," said Mary Yarbrough, vice president of marketing and sales operations for Verizon's Mid-Atlantic region. "Now FiOS TV-eligible consumers in Philadelphia join consumers in hundreds of communities across Pennsylvania who are enjoying the vast benefits and superiority of this service."

FiOS TV offers more than 600 channels, including 130 high-definition (HD) channels in Philadelphia -- more HD channels than the city's current cable provider, Comcast. Residents and small businesses in three areas -- parts of Chestnut Hill, South Philadelphia and North Philadelphia -- will be among the first to benefit from this exciting new service. Additional areas will be made available later this year.

A video Q&A on the FiOS launch in Philadelphia can be found here: http://verizon.mediaseed.tv/Story.aspx?story=37181.

Verizon's FiOS TV was ranked highest in the East Region in the J.D. Power and Associates "2009 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Survey." It is the second consecutive year that FiOS TV has received the No. 1 ranking. In the television study, FiOS outperformed all competitors measured in overall satisfaction and three factors: performance and reliability, cost of service, and offers and promotions.

Verizon's consumer broadband services also outperform all their competitors when it comes to overall customers satisfaction in the East, according to the J.D. Power and Associates "2009 Internet Service Provider (ISP) Residential Customer Satisfaction Study"(SM) released Oct. 28.

Philadelphia residents who are FiOS TV-eligible now have the option to trim their monthly bills with packages that include FiOS TV, FiOS Internet and voice service for as little as $99.99 a month with a price guarantee for 24 months. Customers who sign up for a qualifying FiOS service before Dec. 19 may be eligible for $150 cash back and a free Home Media DVR for three months. Verizon also offers a "quad-play" bundle of FiOS TV, FiOS Internet, home phone and wireless service starting at $105 per month, plus the cost of the Verizon Wireless plan.

Customers interested in FiOS TV can visit www.verizon.com/fiostv or call 1-888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467) for more information.

Small and medium-sized businesses interested in business-grade FiOS services can visit www.verizon.com/bizfiostv, or call 877-FiOS BIZ (877-346-7249) for more information.

                         FiOS TV Service Highlights    FiOS TV service highlights include:   --  More than 600 all-digital channels, in the Philadelphia region,       grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, marketplace,       music, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their       favorite programming.    --  A total of 130 HD channels available for Philadelphia customers, with       extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.    --  An industry-leading library of more than 18,000 video-on-demand (VOD)       titles each month, 70 percent of which are free. In addition, the VOD       library includes more than 2,400 HD titles per month.    --  An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) that provides       next-generation, personalized interactive services, along with content       from TV listings, VOD catalogs and the digital video recorder (DVR),       as well as personal music, videos and photos from a home network.        Among the features of the IMG are:    --  Multi-Room DVR - Use one DVR to record HD and SD 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.    --  Remote DVR management - Subscribers can remotely control their DVRs       online, and via any cell phone with a data plan.  Customers can use       the service to remotely review, change or add recording requests;       delete recorded programs; browse and search TV and VOD listings; set       parental controls; and more.    --  Widgets - Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to personalized       information such as local traffic reports, daily local and national       news headlines, fantasy sports, daily national sports headlines, and       daily horoscopes, as well as interactive social TV applications from       Twitter and Facebook, all while still enjoying their TV programming.        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.    --  Pro Football 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 into its opponent's       20-yard line. The alerts, once set, pop up at the bottom of the TV       screen while viewers are watching any channel.    --  KODAK Widget - This widget gives registered KODAK Gallery users       instant on-screen access to photos and slideshows that they have       stored on Kodak's online digital photo service.    --  Weatherbug Widget - Provides instant access to real-time, personalized       weather information and forecasts.  Subscribers can customize weather       reports by any zip code, pull up hourly or seven-day forecasts, and       view radar weather imagery to see how local conditions are developing.    --  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 may       only want to see HD content, international channels or kids       programming, among others.    

Programming choices for Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Russian and other multicultural audiences are available, making FiOS TV an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

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 offers FiOS Internet service, which delivers downstream speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upstream speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice services.

Free Verizon Wi-Fi access at thousands of locations across the U.S. is available for FiOS Internet customers with up-to-20 Mbps or faster packages. Free Wi-Fi hot spot locations include hotels, airports, restaurants, coffee shops, retailers and other public locations across the U.S. For a list of hot-spot locations, visit www.verizon.com/hotspots.

The value of FiOS TV extends to installation and customer support. Specially trained Verizon technicians will install the service for up to three existing TV outlets and acquaint subscribers with FiOS TV features and services. Verizon provides 24 x 7 technical assistance by phone from its Fiber Solutions Centers.

Verizon FiOS customers also have access to the Verizon In-Home Agent, a free application that gives them valuable tools to set up services, configure Wi-Fi links, set up and manage voice mail, auto-fix video problems, and trouble-shoot and correct Internet issues - all with the simple click of a mouse.

Verizon introduced FiOS TV in the greater Philadelphia region about three years ago. The company now offers FiOS TV service in about 300 communities in Pennsylvania.

(More information about FiOS TV and fiber optics is available in Verizon's online News Center at www.verizon.com/news.)

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 89 million customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 230,000 and last year generated consolidated 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.

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Source: Verizon

CONTACT: Rich Young, +1-973-649-2279, richard.j.young@verizon.com, or
Lee Gierczynski, +1-412-633-5574, lee.j.gierczynski@verizon.com

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

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Profile: International Entertainment