Marysville and Kenmore, Wash., Award Video Franchises to Verizon

Filed under: News | By: Daniel
Posted on: July 29, 2008 | No Comments

Video Franchises to Verizon
Residents of Marysville and Kenmore are a major step closer to having an innovative, reliable and competitive alternative for their television services, thanks to unanimous votes by their respective city councils Monday (July 28) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV.

Marysville and Kenmore are the third and fourth communities in the state to grant video franchises to Verizon, following similar votes earlier this month in Lynnwood and Everett. The company plans to begin offering FiOS TV in the communities later this year.

FiOS TV offers consumers a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality from the only TV service delivered over the nation’s most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses.

“Approval of Verizon’s video franchise is great news for the residents of Marysville and Kenmore, who will soon have more choice for their video entertainment,” said David S. Valdez, senior vice president for Verizon’s Pacific Northwest region. “We commend the mayors, the city councils and city staffs for their dedication and hard work throughout this process. They recognize and support the technological advantage and competitive benefits, as well as the distinctive edge in economic development and quality of life, that fiber will bring to their communities.

“We look forward to reaching similar agreements with other Washington communities,” said Valdez.

The franchise votes give Verizon the authority to offer FiOS TV to up to 9,730 households in Marysville and up to 8,400 households in Kenmore. Many Verizon customers in Washington are already enjoying FiOS Internet service, which delivers ultra-fast download speeds up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second).*

Verizon already provides FiOS TV in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

FiOS TV service highlights include:
* More than 400 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.

* A wide array of high-definition channels, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound. The company plans to significantly expand the HD lineup to include all available major HD programming by year-end.

* An industry-leading library of more than 10,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month, 70 percent of which are free. In addition, an increasing number of on-demand titles in high definition, with 1,000 HD VOD titles per month by the end of the year.

* An easy-to-use interactive media guide that integrates HD programming, on-demand content and the digital video recorder along with broadcast television into a seamless user experience.

* Set-top boxes ranging from a standard-definition box to the Home Media DVR, featuring a multi-room DVR that enables up to three simultaneous viewings of recorded programs without requiring customers to set up a complex home network or buy extra equipment. The recorder is bundled with Media Manager, a feature that lets customers easily access photos and music from their personal computer and play them on their entertainment center where they look and sound the best.

* FiOS TV Widgets, a free interactive feature that provides local weather and traffic 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.