Verizon Receives DPUC Approval for Compliance Order Certificate to Offer FiOS TV in Rhode Island

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WARWICK, R.I. - The state Division of Public Utilities and Carriers granted a Compliance Order Certificate to Verizon Wednesday (Dec. 20), taking the next significant step toward bringing video choice to approximately 80,000 Rhode Island households.

The division's order comes after an 11-month proceeding in which the company's technical, financial and managerial qualifications to operate a cable system in Service Area 6 were examined and found to be in compliance with the division's rules and regulations.  Service Area 6 encompasses the communities of Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, North Kingstown, Warwick, West Greenwich and West Warwick.

"We are delighted to receive this first certificate and look forward to working with the division in the coming months to complete the certification process," said Donna Cupelo, Verizon region president for Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  "Rhode Island consumers deserve the opportunity to have a choice in their cable TV provider.  Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and when we will launch FiOS TV in Rhode Island next year, consumers in Service Area 6 will be able to choose their cable provider as easily as they chose their phone company." 

FiOS TV is the company's new fiber-optic television service, delivered over the only all-digital, fiber network that is being made available, on a mass scale, to millions of individual homes and businesses. It offers a better-quality picture, more high-definition and on-demand programs, and more reliable service at competitive prices.

Verizon currently offers FiOS TV to nearly 200,000 households in Massachusetts as well as other locations in New York, California, Texas, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

For more information on the Verizon franchise process in the state, log onto www.verizon.com/ri.

Verizon research indicates 91 percent of Rhode Island residents favor more competition and choice for video services.  Independent studies have shown that competition in the video market brings enormous benefits to consumers in the form of reduced prices, better packages and improved service.

"Upon completion of the certification process, Verizon will compete aggressively for subscribers in Service Area 6 with our FiOS services, which are fueled by our lightning-fast fiber-optic network," Cupelo said.

Verizon is the first company to offer such a communications network, connecting homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread scale.

FiOS TV offers a broad collection of all-digital programming, two dozen high-definition channels, video on demand and more.  It is delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which has industry-leading quality and reliability. Only Verizon's FTTP network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes and businesses.

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. 

In addition to FiOS TV, Verizon's fiber network also allows the company to offer consumers and businesses high-speed FiOS Internet Service at download speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds up to 10 Mbps.* 

* NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a New York-based Dow 30 company, 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 57 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which operates one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks, and Verizon Telecom, which is deploying the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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