NEWTON, Mass. - Mayor David Cohen Monday (Dec. 18) signed a cable-TV franchise agreement with Verizon, making the city, with its 30,000 households, the largest franchise held by the company in Massachusetts.
As a result, FiOS TV will soon be available to more than 200,000 households in 32 communities in the Bay State.
"We are thrilled to be able to bring FiOS TV to residents in Newton," said Donna Cupelo, Verizon region president for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. "Since the launch of FiOS TV in Massachusetts earlier this year, we are continuing our efforts to meet the consumer demand for cable TV choice."
Cohen said, "The city of Newton is pleased to add another choice in cable TV service for our residents. Newton consumers will now be better served with new features, quality service and competitive rates. By granting this license, the city has also secured additional funding for our public, education and government cable-access channels. I am delighted that Verizon will now be an option for cable TV consumers in Newton."
FiOS TV is Verizon'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.
The company currently offers FiOS TV in Acton, Andover, Belmont, Boxborough, Boxford, Burlington, Dedham, Georgetown, Hamilton, Hopkinton, Ipswich, Lincoln, Lexington, Lynn, Lynnfield, Marlborough, Nahant, Needham, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham, Swampscott, Tewksbury, Topsfield, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Wellesley, Wenham, West Newbury, Winchester and Woburn, as well as other locations in New York, California, Texas, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The company also has TV franchises in the Massachusetts communities of Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester and Littleton.
"As a result of Newton's new franchises, consumers will be able to choose their cable provider as easily as they choose their phone company," said Cupelo. "We're hopeful that the town of Natick will soon follow. Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and it puts the consumer in control."
Verizon is currently in negotiations with some 30 other communities in Massachusetts to obtain additional franchises. For more information on the Verizon franchise process in the state, log onto www.verizon.com/ma.
Verizon research indicates 87 percent of Massachusetts 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. "Verizon will compete aggressively for subscribers in Newton 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 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds up to 5 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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