Verizon Bringing FiOS TV to More Neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn

NEW YORK - Residents and businesses in more neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn now have the opportunity to join the Verizon FiOS revolution that is sweeping the city.

Verizon on Monday (Nov. 3) began offering consumers and businesses in Schuylerville, Throgs Neck and Edgewater Park in the Bronx, and Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn a bundled package of FiOS TV, FiOS Internet and wired, reliable voice services for a price as low as $94.99 a month.

In addition, Verizon is spreading Verizon FiOS TV availability to more areas in the previously activated Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bergen Beach, Flatlands, Georgetown, Homecrest, Madison, Marine Park, Midwood and Mill Basin.

Door-to-door marketing and other pre-sales activities have been taking place in all the neighborhoods in preparation for the introduction of FiOS TV.

Since the New York City launch of Verizon's FiOS TV in July in 108 neighborhoods across all five boroughs, the company has expanded availability to some 50,000 households, bringing the total number of households with FiOS TV availability to just over 400,000.  By the end of the year, the company expects to have half-a-million homes open for sale in the city.

"Verizon's FiOS TV and bundled services have gotten off to a rousing start in New York City," said Chris Creager, Verizon's president for the Northeast region.  "For the first time, New Yorkers have choice in their television and entertainment services - and they're choosing Verizon.  Following our Bronx and Brooklyn expansion today, we expect to move quickly to reach our objective of making FiOS TV available to 500,000 homes in the city by the end of the year."

Creager said that the company is continuing to build its all-fiber infrastructure throughout neighborhoods that already have the advanced services. 

Verizon is New York's market leader in high-definition (HD) availability.  FiOS TV offers more than 500 total channels in the region, including more than 100 HD channels, more than any local cable TV company, including Cablevision or Time Warner.

By signing up for FiOS TV between now and Dec. 31, residents and businesses in the latest FiOS-enabled neighborhoods, as well as in other New York City neighborhoods that have the service, will enjoy free access for 90 days to three premium entertainment packages plus more than 9,000 free video-on-demand (VOD) titles per month.  The packages are: Cinemax, HBO and FiOS TV's Movie Package.

This offer represents free access to 70 premium channels - 40 of which are high-definition (HD) - such as HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, The Movie Channel, Encore, Sundance Channel and IFC, and includes more than 1,800 VOD titles.  Customers who take advantage of the offer will enjoy access to 800 Hollywood blockbusters per month, HBO award-winning original series, movie premieres and World Championship Boxing.

FiOS TV service highlights include:

• More than 500 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.

• Up to 100 high-definition channels, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.
• An industry-leading library of more than 11,000 VOD titles, 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 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 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.
  • Return to paused programming - 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 only may 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.  Because FiOS TV has so much capacity, it is an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

Information on packages and prices is available at www.verizon.com/fiostv.  New Yorkers also can call 1-888-GET-FIOS (888-438-3467) to see if they qualify to order FiOS TV.

Verizon delivers FiOS TV and Internet services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes and businesses, providing stunning picture-and-sound quality, a broad spectrum of content diversity, interactive features and the fastest Internet speeds, creating the ultimate home-entertainment experience. 

FiOS Internet delivers 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. This year, 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.

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 Fiber Solutions Centers.

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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