Greenburgh, N.Y., Becomes the First Westchester County Community to Approve Verizon's FiOS TV

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - The town of Greenburgh has become the first Westchester County community to bring its residents a major step closer to choice for cable television services, following a vote last night (Sept. 27) by the town's Board of Trustees to award a video franchise to Verizon for its FiOS TV service.

"This is great news for residents of Greenburgh, who now have a new choice for their video entertainment," said Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut.  "Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will continue to compete for business in Westchester with our FiOS services. 

"We look forward to similarly successful negotiations with other towns and villages throughout New York state," said Azare.

Greenburgh is the 14th municipality in New York State to grant Verizon a cable franchise, following the Long Island communities of Massapequa Park, Cedarhurst, Laurel Hollow, Lynbrook, Mineola, East Rockaway, the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay, and the Rockland County communities of Nyack, South Nyack, Upper Nyack, Grandview-on-Hudson and Clarkstown.

As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreement between Greenburgh and Verizon is subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

Verizon, which launched FiOS TV last September in Keller, Texas, currently offers the service in parts of California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia.  The company now has video franchises covering approximately 3 million households in nine states and more than 100 franchise areas.  As the fiber network is fully deployed in franchise areas, Verizon will provide consumers with the opportunity to choose FiOS TV.

Verizon's FiOS TV service is designed to be a formidable competitor to cable and satellite, offering a broad collection of all-digital programming, more than 20 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.  Verizon is the first company to offer such a communications network, connecting homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread scale.

Verizon's fiber network 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 of up to 10 Mbps.*  FiOS Internet Service is currently available in many New York communities.

* NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.