Verizon announces that the company will offer exclusive video from the Tribeca Film Festival on Verizon Wireless' V CAST Video service and on Verizon's FiOS TV VOD service. Customers will be able to view trailers, short films and more on their mobile phones and, for the first time, in their own homes. In addition, customers will have access to three commissioned short films that are exclusively available on FiOS TV VOD and V CAST Video.

Verizon Wireless customers will also be able to view mobile shorts, red carpet coverage and celebrity interviews on their mobile phones. Full-feature films will be made available on Verizon's FiOS TV VOD service. Customers can learn more online at www.verizon.com/tribeca.

With the federal mandate to phase out analog television broadcasts approaching in early 2009, many consumers remain uncertain of what the change means for them. However, Verizon FiOS TV customers are ahead of the game. Verizon FiOS TV is already all-digital, so for most customers there will be no change. At the same time, Verizon is making other changes, and it is taking steps to ensure that customers are not confused by the phaseout of analog broadcasts.

Verizon is phasing out a small number of duplicate analog channels on the FiOS TV service so all customers will enjoy better-quality, all-digital viewing experiences on every set in their homes. Until now, Verizon has provided these duplicate channels to allow digital subscribers to view some limited programming in an analog format without using a set-top box.

Verizon has introduced FiOS TV to nearly 10,000 more Wareham, Massachusetts households. Wareham is among 66 Massachusetts communities where the company's new television service is being offered - the only TV service delivered over the nation's most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses.

Verizon is currently negotiating with several other communities in Massachusetts to obtain additional franchises.

Massachusetts residents who are FiOS TV-eligible now have the option to trim their monthly bills by bundling FiOS TV service, FiOS Internet service and the Verizon Freedom Value unlimited calling plan, all for $104.99 a month.

Residents of Roslyn Harbor on Long Island and the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess 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 Roslyn Harbor Board of Trustees granted a video franchise to Verizon March 19, while Wappinger's Board of Trustees approved a franchise Monday, March 24 paving the way for video choice in the communities. This vote brings to 102 the total number of New York communities that have approved video franchises for Verizon.

Residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, one of the largest apartment complexes in the city, will soon have access to the most advanced broadband technology available, under an agreement announced Monday, March 24th by Verizon and Tishman Speyer, the complex's owner and manager.

Verizon FiOS Internet service is now available in seven buildings in the 110-building complex, and more buildings will be provisioned for service in the weeks and months ahead. FiOS delivers Internet access with maximum downstream connection speed of up to 50 Mbps on the nation's most advanced digital, all-fiber-optic network. At 50 Mbps, downloading a 1.2 GB, or 90-minute, standard-definition movie takes approximately 3.2 minutes. Upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps make modern video and file-sharing a snap over the nation's only large-scale fiber-optics network that extends all the way to customers' homes or small and medium-sized businesses. Using a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a person could upload a 250 megabyte file or a 3,500 page document in about 90 seconds, compared with about 47 minutes over a 768 kilobits per second upstream connection.

Residents of Abington, Mass. are a major step closer to having another choice for their cable television services, thanks to a newly approved agreement authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service via the most advanced all-digital, fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes. The Board of Selectmen in Abington granted a cable franchise Monday to Verizon, paving the way for video choice for approximately 5,000 more Massachusetts households.

The board's vote brings to 66 the total number of Massachusetts communities where Verizon's FiOS TV is or will soon be available

Consumers in Wayland and Norfolk have more choice in cable TV providers now that Verizon has introduced FiOS TV, making a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality available to some 4,700 more Massachusetts households. Wayland and Norfolk are among 63 Massachusetts communities where the company's new television service is being offered - the only TV service delivered over the nation's most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses. FiOS TV is now available to consumers in more than 400,000 Massachusetts households.

In less than 28 months, more than 1 million customers have chosen Verizon FiOS TV, making the company the 10th largest cable provider in the United States. Verizon announced that it surpassed 1 million FiOS TV customers in January after a banner 2007. Verizon delivers FiOS TV, FiOS Internet and voice service on the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network all the way to customers' homes.

Verizon added 226,000 net FiOS TV customers in the fourth quarter and a total of 736,000 during the year to end 2007 with 943,000 FiOS TV customers. Including satellite TV customers served in partnership with DIRECTV, Verizon has more than 1.8 million video customers.

Verizon plans to deploy its all-fiber-optic network all the way to customers' homes and businesses in areas east of Gresham along Highway 26 and across the Columbia River in Clark County, Washington. The company said it will extend the network this year to the communities of Damascus, Happy Valley and Sunnyside, as well as Camas and Washougal in Washington. It also will continue its network expansion in the Washington County and the east Multnomah communities of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village, as well as McMinnville in Yamhill County.

A total of 48,000 additional homes will be connected to the network, which delivers FiOS Internet service at download speeds of up to 30 mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 15 mbps, along with crystal-clear voice and more than 250 channels and 10,000 on-demand titles from FiOS TV. Below are the numbers of households in each community that will be added to the network:

Verizon has expanded its FiOS TV service to six more communities in New York. Verizon is now taking orders for FiOS TV in parts of the Long Island villages of Huntington Bay and Oyster Bay Cove, and in the Westchester County communities of Briarcliff Manor, Sleepy Hollow and the town and village of Ossining.

Verizon's FiOS TV Premier package delivers 200 all-digital channels, including 31 high-definition channels in the New York market and access to more than 10,000 on-demand titles, 60 percent of which are free. Sports fans subscribing to FiOS TV Premier in the New York market will also receive the YES Network, MSG Network, FSN New York, SportsNet NY and the NFL Network at no extra charge.

Verizon introduces its FiOS TV's interactive media guide to the company's growing number of TV customers in Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. The new guide helps customers quickly and easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, video-on-demand catalogs and digital video recorders as well as personal music and photos from the home network.

The guide will now be a standard feature for FiOS TV customers wherever the service is offered. Future versions of the guide will add Internet radio, videos, podcasts and games to the FiOS TV multimedia platform

Verizon introduces FiOS TV's interactive media guide to the company's growing number of TV customers in New York. The new guide helps customers quickly and easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, video-on-demand catalogs and digital video recorders as well as personal music and photos from the home network.

The guide will now be a standard feature for FiOS TV customers wherever the service is offered. Future versions of the guide will add Internet radio, videos, podcasts and games to the FiOS TV multimedia platform. There is no additional charge for the guide.

Consumers looking for Internet, television, and telephone service should consider Verizon FiOS. In Consumer Reports' latest survey of several major telecom providers, featured in the February issue, Verizon FiOS, whose network is fiber-optic based, received superior scores for reliability and performance for its Internet, television, and telephone services.

Because the availability of Verizon FiOS is as yet limited, many consumers should also consider other options for these services. The article also includes Ratings of services typically bundled from various providers based on reader scores.

Consumers interested in services provided by a cable company may not have an option when choosing a provider because a majority of homes only have one cable company available in their area. According to CR's survey, better cable companies include Cox, Bright House and Wow, which are fine alternatives to Verizon FiOS in areas that they are available and also offer Internet and telephone services.

Verizon introduces FiOS TV over its fiber-optic network to the Chesapeake, Virginia area. FiOS TV currently is available to consumers in large parts of Newport News and Virginia Beach. Verizon FiOS TV has earned certification from the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.

Verizon FiOS TV is available now to more than 3,500 households in parts of the following Chesapeake neighborhoods: Emerald Greens, Emerald Forest, English Oaks, Estates of Greenbrier, Greenwood, The Hampshire at Greenbrier Wood, Hunningdon Lakes, Hunningdon Woods, Kemp Bridge, Kemp Woods, Kemp Woods South, Kemps Crossing, Lakewood, Norcova Estates, Oak Brooke, Oak Grove Meadows, Oakbrook, Orchard Grove Condos, Stillwater Farms, Stony Run Manor, Towns at Hunningdon Lakes, Vance Level, Warrington Hall, Wedgewood Estates, Welspring, Willow Oaks, Whitehurst and Wynngate Place.

Verizon expands its industry-leading FiOS TV service to more New York consumers, which is provided on the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes. Verizon is now taking orders for FiOS TV in parts of the Long Island communities of Malverne, Stewart Manor, Centre Island, East Williston and the Village of The Branch; in the Orange County town of Newburgh; and in Westchester County in the villages of Pelham Manor, Larchmont and Mamaroneck, the town of Mamaroneck and the city of Rye.