Move Over Cable TV! Verizon's FiOS TV Now Available to More Than 25,000 Additional Homes, Businesses in Baltimore County, Md.

The future of television has arrived for more than 25,000 additional homes and businesses in Baltimore County as Verizon introduces FiOS TV via the company's revolutionary all-fiber-optic network.

The new areas to get Verizon's revolutionary FiOS triple play of TV, Internet and voice services are Arbutus, Catonsville, Dundalk, Edgewood, Hunt Valley, North Point and Woodlawn.

"Consumers in these communities at long last have a better choice for TV," said William R. Roberts, Verizon's president for Maryland and Washington, D.C.  "We've had great success throughout Baltimore County and in other parts of the state.  FiOS TV will bring more Baltimore County consumers a choice that is truly different from the cable TV company."

Verizon delivers FiOS TV over the nation's largest digital, all-fiber network, offering more than 500 total channels in Maryland - including 132 high-definition (HD) channels - more HD channels than the region's current monopoly cable provider, Comcast, offers.

"Our advanced 100 percent fiber-optic network was built for HD, and right out of the box we're making more HD channels available than Comcast has provided after decades in the business," Roberts added.  "With all-fiber connections running straight to their homes, viewers get both HD and standard-definition TV that is eye-popping."

In Maryland, Verizon's FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services are available to dozens of communities in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Charles, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, including Aberdeen, Annapolis, Bel Air, LaPlata and Rockville.

FiOS TV has earned certification from the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes and businesses.  FiOS TV also scored highest in J.D. Power and Associates "2009 U.S. Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study" for the East region.  It was the second year in a row that FiOS TV got the highest ranking in the annual study.  And a leading consumer magazine gave FiOS TV the top rating in the publication's 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.

"Cable just can't match the high-definition channels or the innovative features and enhancements FiOS TV customers enjoy," said Roberts.  "We've harnessed the vast capacity of our advanced fiber-optic network to deliver a revolutionary, new entertainment experience."

Where FiOS TV is available, consumers now have the option to bundle FiOS TV service, FiOS Internet service and the Verizon Freedom Essentials unlimited calling plan, for as little as $79.99 a month for the first six months.  Customers interested in FiOS TV can visit www.verizon.com/fiostv or call 1-888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467) for more information.  FiOS also is available to small and medium-sized businesses.  Business customers can learn more about business-grade FiOS services at www.verizon.com/bizfiostv, or by calling 877-FiOS BIZ (877-346-7249). 

FiOS TV Service Highlights

• 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 132 high-definition (HD) channels in Maryland, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.
• An industry-leading library of more than 16,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month - 70 percent of which are free.  In addition, the VOD library includes more than 1,700 HD titles per month.
• An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) that provides next-generation, personalized interactive services, along with 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.
• Media Manager - This feature lets FiOS DVR customers access personal photos, videos, music and slide shows from their home computers and play them on their TVs.  Subscribers also can search for and enjoy online videos from blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh on their TV screens.
• Widgets - Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to personalized information such as traffic reports, daily local and national news headlines, fantasy sports, daily national sports headlines, and daily horoscopes, as well as interactive social TV applications from Twitter and Facebook, all while still enjoying their TV programming.  Additional widgets include: 
• Weatherbug Widget - Provides instant access to real-time, personalized weather information and forecasts.  Subscribers can customize weather reports by any zip code, pull up hourly or seven-day forecasts, and view radar weather imagery to see how local conditions are developing.
• KODAK Widget - This widget gives registered KODAK Gallery users instant on-screen access to photos and slideshows that they have stored on Kodak's online digital photo service.
• Pro Football Widget - One-stop access to NFL stats and the NFL RedZone channel, giving customers who subscribe to the channel the ability to set on-screen alerts for whenever a team is moving inside its opponent's 20-yard line.  The alerts, once set up, pop up at the bottom of the TV screen while subscribers are watching any channel.
• ESPN Fantasy Football - FiOS TV customers who are registered users of ESPN Fantasy Football will have instant on-screen access to personalized NFL statistics, including rosters, box scores, scoring leaders and player information.
• Remote DVR Management - Subscribers can remotely control their DVRs online, and via any cell phone with a data plan.  Customers can use the service to remotely review, change or add recording requests; delete recorded programs; browse and search TV and VOD listings; set parental controls; and more.
• Free casual games - With the remote control and an HD set-top box, customers can access chess, solitaire, sudoku and wordplay.
• "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.
• Dual Pause and Play - Allows customers to pause live programming, change channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up where they left off. 
• 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.

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 offers FiOS Internet Service, which delivers downstream speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upstream speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice services.

Free Verizon Wi-Fi access at thousands of locations across the U.S. is available for FiOS Internet customers with up to 20 Mbps-or-faster packages.  Free Wi-Fi hot spot locations include hotels, airports, restaurants, coffee shops, retailers and other public locations across the U.S.  For a list of hot spot locations, visit www.verizon.com/hotspots.

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.

Verizon FiOS customers also have access to the Verizon In-Home Agent, a free application that gives them valuable tools to set up services, configure Wi-Fi links, set up and manage voice mail, auto-fix video problems, trouble-shoot and correct Internet issues - all with the simple click of a mouse.