Verizon Communications Inc. will expand its fiber-optics reach in Westchester County this year following the recent approval of a cable television franchise agreement in the city of Yonkers.
After six months of negotiations with city officials, Manhattan-based Verizon was authorized by the Yonkers City Council on July 12 to offer its FiOS TV service in Westchester”™s largest city. The agreement must be approved by the state Public Service Commission before the company can begin building its fiber-optic network directly to customers”™ homes and businesses.
The city will be paid 3 percent of the franchise service provider”™s gross revenue, said Verizon spokeswoman Heather Wilner.
Verizon, which will compete with Cablevision for Yonkers cable subscribers, expects to build 53 percent of its fiber-to-the-premises network by October, Wilner said, and complete 77 percent of its citywide fiber-optics network by October 2008.
Verizon”™s FiOS TV offers a broad collection of all-digital programming, 28 high-definition (HD) channels in the New York market and access to more than 8,600 on-demand titles, 60 percent of which are free. In addition to FiOS TV, Verizon’s fiber-optic network delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps, as well as voice service.
Yonkers Mayor Philip A. Amicone called the new Verizon franchise “great news for Yonkers residents who now have more choices for their subscription television service. Choice is not something that has traditionally been offered to subscribers in the cable and satellite industry, which is why I”™m excited about this opportunity to broaden our marketplace.” Amicone said competition with other cable and satellite providers will drive down prices for consumers.
“This franchise will give Yonkers residents the ability to choose their cable provider as easily as they choose their phone company,” said Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut. “Competition like this drives innovation and value and puts the consumer in control.”
City Council Chairman Dennis Robertson, who headed the council”™s cable franchise committee in negotiations, said the Verizon franchise “provides more funding for our public, education and government channels, as well as additional benefits for our senior citizens.”Â
Yonkers was the 47th community in New York to approve a video franchise for Verizon. In Westchester County, Verizon also offers its FiOS TV service in Scarsdale, Mount Pleasant, North Castle, White Plains, Rye Brook, Irvington, Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Eastchester, Mount Kisco, Elmsford, Port Chester, Tuckahoe and the town of Greenburgh. Verizon also has video franchises in 12 Rockland County communities and in 19 communities on Long Island, where it first launched its FiOS service in 2005.
Verizon FiOS Internet recently ranked first in the computer magazine PC World’s latest Best and Worst ISPs survey. Verizon FiOS Internet also was ranked fourth among PC World’s 100 Best Products of 2007.
