Verizon Opens Its First Tri-Lingual FiOS Store

When it comes to communications and entertainment services, Providence-area consumers want theirs to be fast, reliable and easy to use. And in offering those services, Verizon is speaking consumers' languages. Literally.

Verizon on Tuesday (April 3) officially opened its first tri-lingual FiOS retail store, where employees are ready to serve customers in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.   The store is located at 579 Atwells Ave.

Mayor Angel Tavaras and members of the Providence City Council, along with New England Patriots legend Joe Andruzzi, joined leaders from Verizon at a grand-opening ceremony at the store.

As part of the ceremony, Verizon executives presented a $2,500 donation to Children's Friend, a Rhode Island nonprofit dedicated to helping underprivileged children.

Also at the event, Verizon announced that it is bringing FiOS voice, Internet and TV service to the 40 units of Eagle Square.

"I commend Verizon for its role as a terrific corporate citizen in our city," said Mayor Tavaras. "Time and again Verizon has demonstrated that it understands our community, and is making it easier for our residents and businesses to do business with them."

Susan Retta, vice president of marketing for Verizon, said: "Verizon has a long, proud history of citizenship in Providence, and the opening of our new FiOS store is another example of that.  Providing excellent customer service is a priority for Verizon.   Having employees in our store who speak Spanish and Portuguese will enhance the experience for our customers."

Employees at the new Verizon FiOS store will be able to help FiOS customers with questions about their FiOS Internet, TV and voice service, as well as demonstrate some of its exciting new features, including Home Monitoring and Control Service,* which enables customers to check on their home, or the kids and pets, from anywhere, anytime, right from their computer, smartphone or tablet.

Visitors to the new Verizon FiOS store also will be able to upgrade their set top boxes and pay their bills.

FiOS TV customers receive many added benefits that are included in their service at no additional cost.  For example, FiOS TV includes 35,000 monthly video-on-demand titles (more than 15,000 of which are free), including 8,000 in HD, and next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; news, traffic, weather, sports, entertainment and social networking apps that include Twitter and Facebook; DVR management via broadband or cell phone; and more.

In addition, FiOS TV customers have online access to thousands of movie titles and TV shows through Verizon's Flex View and FiOS TV Online services.  Flex View allows FiOS TV customers to rent or purchase more than 10,000 movie titles and watch them on their TV, online and on a growing number of mobile devices including smartphones and tablets.  FiOS TV Online offers online access to a variety of programming from HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, EPIX, TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV as well as live streaming from CNN, ESPN, NBA League Pass and the Longhorn Network.

FiOS TV also offers a multi-room DVR that allows customers to view, record, pause and rewind programming on up to three TVs in the home at the same time. 

Customers can access their FiOS TV DVRs remotely from a PC or select mobile devices with the MY FiOS app, which also provides access to movies, TV shows and personal content; home and energy monitoring; and billing, account management and customer service tools.  All FiOS TV customers also have access to Media Manager, which lets them access personal videos, photos and music from their home computer on their TV.

FiOS TV is delivered over Verizon's all-fiber-optic network, which brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into homes and businesses 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.

The network also offers FiOS Internet Service, America's fastest, most reliable, most consistent Internet service. It delivers downstream speeds of up to 150 Mbps (megabits per second) and upstream speeds of up to 35 Mbps. 

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 108 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 194,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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* Home Monitoring and Control Service provided by Verizon Online LLC, and is available for both FiOS and High Speed Internet customers.