The first customers in Hillsborough
County can now get
Verizon FiOS TV, with amazingly sharp pictures and sound and offering a true choice for subscription television and On Demand
programming, via the company's all-digital, fiber-optic network. Verizon is
the only company to offer such a communications network all the way to
customers in millions of homes and offices across the country.
Today Verizon is turning on fiber-optic TV services -- FiOS TV -- for more
than 33,000 households in Hillsborough County. The service introduction
follows the Hillsborough County Commission's decision on Feb. 1 to grant
Verizon a franchise to provide television services in the unincorporated parts
of the county.
The communities where FiOS TV service will be available in this initial
offering are Carrollwood, Sulphur Springs, Lutz, Oldsmar, Temple Terrace
(serving areas of the county around that city), Wesley Chapel, Brandon, Tampa
East and neighborhoods around the University of South Florida.
"This is a day people have been clamoring for," said Alan Ciamporcero,
Verizon's Southeast region president. "No longer will consumers be at the
mercy of a single cable TV company. They'll have Verizon FiOS TV."
Service highlights include:
- A broad collection of all-digital programming and compelling consumer
choice -- with more than 350 total channels and more on the way.
- A lead offer with more than 180 digital video and music channels, for
$34.95 a month with Verizon FiOS Internet Service or a qualifying voice
plan or $39.95 as a stand-alone service.
- More than 20 high-definition (HD) channels, with extraordinary clarity
and theater-quality sound.
- Over 2,200 On Demand titles available to customers now, increasing to
over 3,500 titles in the next several months.
- Channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news,
shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their
favorite programming.
- An easy-to-use interactive programming guide that integrates HD
programming, On Demand content and the digital video recorder along with
broadcast television into a seamless user experience.
- A dual-tuner, HD-capable DVR that gives customers the freedom to pause
and rewind live TV, record one show while watching another, and fast
forward to their favorite part of the program -- all without a VCR,
tapes or DVDs.
Information on packages and prices is available at
http://www.verizon.net/fiostv. Customers also can call 1-800-880-2941 to see
if they are able to order FiOS TV.
Hillsborough joins the city of Temple Terrace and parts of southern
Manatee County as FiOS TV markets in Florida. Early response to the
television, data and voice offerings in those areas has been strong. In the
months ahead, more households will be added to the inventory of eligible
customers, while construction and engineering continues as well.
FiOS TV is also available to customers in 14 North Texas communities near
Dallas; Herndon, Reston and surrounding parts of Fairfax County, Va.;
Massapequa Park, N.Y.; Reading and Woburn, Mass; and Beaumont and Murrieta,
Calif.
"Our plan is to add more households each month while also managing the
available work force to meet consumer demand," said Ciamporcero. "We want to
deliver FiOS television and high-speed Internet services to consumers as
quickly as possible."
Additionally, Verizon continues to negotiate with the City of Tampa, Pasco
County and Sarasota County for franchises while it also participates in an
industry push to create state-issued franchising during this legislative
session.
Delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, FiOS TV is
a formidable competitor to cable and satellite. The Verizon FTTP network, the
largest of its kind in the country, is currently under construction in more
than half the states where the company offers landline communications
services, including more than 20 Florida wire centers.
To date, Verizon has deployed nearly 7 million feet of fiber in
Hillsborough County. The network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics
directly into people's homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability.
Fiber delivers high quality 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. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 30 Mbps
(megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps as well as
high-quality voice services.
Programming choices for African-American, Asian, Russian and other
multicultural and ethnic audiences will be available in every market. Because
FiOS TV has so much capacity, it will also be an outlet for emerging and
independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.