More Hampton Roads, Va., Consumers Now Can Blow Cable Away as Verizon Expands FiOS TV Availability in Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - More Hampton Roads consumers and small businesses can join the FiOS family as Verizon has expanded the availability of FiOS TV and FiOS Internet in Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, over the company's revolutionary fiber-optic network. 

Verizon FiOS TV is available now to approximately 3,400 more homes and businesses in the following neighborhoods:

• In Chesapeake: Albermarle Pines, Brandermill, Bridgefield, Chesapeake Colony, Etheridge Woods, Glenwood, Greatbridge Gardens, Hall Heights, The Lakes of Etheridge and Poplar Ridge South.

• In Portsmouth: Belvedere, Cavalier Manor, Charlestown, Crystal Lake, Edgewood Park, Green Lakes, Greenfield Farms, Hosier Oaks and Lake Collins.
• In Virginia Beach: Courthouse Estates, Guardhouse, Lakeview Park, Lakeview Shores and Redford Park.

Verizon delivers FiOS TV over the nation's largest digital, all-fiber network, which has earned certification from the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes and businesses.

"Verizon continues to bring FiOS Internet and TV services to more Virginians, and the response has been great," said Robert W. Woltz Jr., president of Verizon Virginia.  "Verizon is winning customers from the cable incumbents by providing the best, most reliable network available at a competitive price for voice, data and video services - all backed by the best employees in the business and a name consumers can trust."

In addition to Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, FiOS TV currently is available in Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson, as well as much of the northern Virginia and Richmond areas.

Hampton Roads residents who are FiOS TV-eligible can trim their monthly bills by bundling FiOS TV service, FiOS Internet service and the Verizon Freedom Essentials unlimited calling plan.  They also can add a Verizon Wireless calling plan for a Grand Slam of communications and entertainment services.

In addition, new residential customers who subscribe to FiOS TV by Oct. 31 will receive their choice of a year's free use of either a high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) or an HD Home Media DVR.  Verizon is also offering new FiOS TV customers, or existing customers who upgrade to a bundled package, one free month of HBO and Cinemax, which includes the latest hit movies, documentaries and original programming from more than 25 premium channels and access to hundreds of titles on video on demand (VOD).  New customers who take advantage of this offer will save between $200 and $260 the first year, depending upon the DVR customers choose.

Hampton Roads consumers can check online at www.verizon.com/fios for more information or to request that Verizon contact them when FiOS services become available.  Customers also can call their local Verizon sales office or 888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467).  Information on construction schedules is available at www.verizon.com/virginia.

Small and medium-sized businesses interested in business-grade FiOS services can visit www.verizon.com/bizfiostv to see online rebate offers of up to $409 depending on the services selected, or call 877-FiOS BIZ (877-346-7249) for more information.

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.

• A total of 45 high-definition channels in the market, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.  The company plans to expand its lineup to offer all available major HD programming by year-end.
• An industry-leading library of more than 11,000 video-on-demand (VOD) titles each month, 70 percent of which are free.  In addition, the VOD library includes an increasing number of HD titles, and Verizon plans to offer 1,000 HD VOD titles per month by year-end.
• An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) that helps customers quickly and easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, VOD catalogs and the 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 provide local traffic and weather reports, 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 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.
  • "Wait for Me" - 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.

Sports fans in the local market can also receive a host of sports channels - including Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, several ESPN channels, the Big Ten Network and the NFL Network - at no extra charge. 

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 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. 

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, including one in Hampton, Va.

FiOS Internet Highlights

Verizon's 50/20 FiOS Internet connection is the fastest available to U.S. consumers, and the company's 20/20 symmetrical service is the first of its kind commercially available to U.S. consumers on a mass scale.  Pioneering a new category of broadband for the American consumer, Verizon's symmetrical FiOS provides the ultra-fast, two-way speeds crucial for such burgeoning online activities as video conferencing, social networking and super-fast uploading of electronic photo albums or home videos, as well as multi-player gaming and online work collaboration.

Verizon's FiOS Internet service was named the top pick in PC Magazine's 2008 readers' survey and also was named a winner in PC World Magazine's The 100 Best Products of 2008.  It was the second year in a row that the broadband service made both lists.

At 50 Mbps, downloading a 5 GB (gigabyte) file, such as 112-minute, high-definition movie purchased online, takes approximately 13.3 minutes, while a 50 MB (megabyte) or 60-minute Web video takes 8 seconds, and a 5 MB MP3 music file takes less than eight-tenths of a second.

Using a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a consumer could upload a 250 megabyte (MB) file of 200 photos in about 90 seconds, instead of the roughly 47 minutes it takes over a 768 kilobit-per-second (Kbps) upstream connection.  A 3 GB file, such as a one-hour family video shot with a high-definition video camera, could be uploaded in around 20 minutes, compared with more than nine hours with 768 Kbps upstream.

FiOS Internet 50/20 Mbps service is available for $89.95 a month in Virginia with an annual service plan; the 20/20 Mbps service is available for $64.99 a month with an annual service plan.  FiOS Internet service is also available as part of a discounted bundle of multiple Verizon 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 69 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 228,600 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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