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Cable Choice Comes to York County, Va., as Verizon Launches FiOS TV

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 March 2009, 07:00 CST

FiOS TV Is the Only TV Service Delivered Over Nation's Most Advanced, All-Fiber-Optic Network Straight to Consumers' Homes

YORKTOWN, Va., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of television is arriving for consumers and businesses in parts of York County as Verizon introduces FiOS TV over its revolutionary fiber-optic network here.

Verizon FiOS TV is available now to approximately 2,800 homes and businesses in parts of Roberts Trace, Running Man, Sinclair Manor, the Woods of Tabb and Wythe Farms.

The company also offers FiOS TV in Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, as well as much of the Northern Virginia and Richmond areas.

Verizon delivers FiOS TV over the nation's largest digital, all-fiber network, which has earned certification from the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes and businesses.

"Cable can't come close to matching the HD channels or the innovative features and enhancements FiOS TV customers enjoy," said Mary Ellen Payne, senior vice president of marketing for Verizon's Potomac region. "We've harnessed the vast capacity of our advanced fiber-optic network to deliver a revolutionary, new entertainment experience."

FiOS TV scored highest in J.D. Power's 2008 Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study for the East Region. A leading consumer magazine gave FiOS TV the top rating in its most recent survey of television service, with top marks in all six categories it measured: channel choice, image quality, sound quality, reliability, value and support.

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.

York County residents who are FiOS TV-eligible can trim their monthly bills by bundling FiOS TV service, FiOS Internet service and the Verizon Freedom Essentials unlimited calling plan. They also can add a Verizon Wireless calling plan for a Grand Slam of communications and entertainment services.

York County consumers can check online at www.verizon.com/fios for more information or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS services become available. Customers also can call their local Verizon sales office or 888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467). Information on construction schedules is available at www.verizon.com/virginia.

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 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 108 high-definition channels in the Hampton Roads market, 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 on-demand 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.

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 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.

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, including one in Hampton, Va.

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.

For the second year in a row, Verizon's FiOS Internet service was named the top pick in PC Magazine's 2008 reader survey and also was named a winner in PC World Magazine's The 100 Best Products of 2008, the second year in a row the broadband service made that list.

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.

*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 80 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 nearly 224,000 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.

SOURCE Verizon

Source: PR Newswire

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