Gresham, Ore., Awards Video Franchise to Verizon

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Residents of Gresham are a major step closer to having a real choice for television service, thanks to a newly approved agreement authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service, delivered over the most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.

The Gresham City Council voted Tuesday (Nov. 18) to grant a franchise to Verizon, paving the way for video choice in the community.  The vote brings to 20 the total number of Oregon communities that have approved video franchises for Verizon.  

"Approval of Verizon's video franchise is great news for the residents of Gresham, 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 mayor, City Council and city staff 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 Oregon communities," said Valdez.

The franchise votes give Verizon the authority to offer FiOS TV to up to 24,000 households in Gresham.

Gresham joins a growing list of Oregon communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. Verizon has been granted video franchises in the following cities and counties: Beaverton, Cornelius, Damascus, Durham, Dundee, Forest Grove, Happy Valley, Hillsboro, King City, Lake Oswego, McMinnville, Newberg, Rivergrove, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville, and Washington and Yamhill counties.

FiOS TV Service Highlights

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.

• Availability of 98 HD channels in the local market, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.
• An industry-leading library of more than 11,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month, 8,500 of which are free.  In addition, Verizon offers 1,000 HD VOD titles per month.
• An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) 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.  Among the features of the IMG are:
• Multi-Room DVR - Verizon's Home Media DVR allows customers to stream recorded HD and standard-definition (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.

• Widgets - Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to local weather and traffic reports shown on TV screens.  Widgets also provide daily local and national news headlines, daily national sports headlines, community news and daily horoscopes.
• Free casual games - With the remote control and an HD set-top box, customers can access chess, solitaire, wordplay and Sudoku.
• "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.
• 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 in every market, making FiOS TV an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

Consumers can check online at www.verizon.com/fios for more information or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS TV becomes available.  Customers also can call their local Verizon sales office or 888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467).

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.  It 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.

* 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 nearly 71 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 more than 228,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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