Verizon Ushers in a New Era of Television Entertainment With the Debut of FiOS TV in Allentown, Pa.

Wed Nov 4, 2009 10:00am EST
 
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Verizon Ushers in a New Era of Television Entertainment With the Debut of FiOS
TV in Allentown, Pa.
Introductory Monthly Bundle Price of $79.99 Gives Consumers Even More Reason
to Switch to Verizon FiOS TV, Internet and Voice Services

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Pennsylvania's Queen City
now have a superior choice for television entertainment delivered over a
superior all-fiber optic network - FiOS TV from Verizon.

"Consumers in Allentown now have a better alternative for TV," said Mary
Yarbrough, vice president of marketing and sales operations for Verizon's
Mid-Atlantic region.  "Our advanced fiber-optic network was built for HD and
super-fast, two-way Internet speeds, giving consumers a choice that is truly
different from their current cable TV providers."

Verizon is initially offering its award-winning FiOS TV service to more than
3,100 households in parts of Allentown, bringing consumers here a wide array
of programming, 128 high-definition (HD) channels, and more video on demand
(VOD) and faster Internet speeds than old-fashioned cable TV.

Where FiOS TV is available, consumers now can bundle FiOS TV service, FiOS
Internet Service and the Verizon Freedom Essentials unlimited calling plan,
for as little as $79.99 a month* for the first six months.  Consumers also can
combine Verizon Wireless service, Freedom Essentials, FiOS TV and FiOS
Internet services into money-saving quad-play bundles that cable companies
can't offer.

Verizon's FiOS TV was ranked highest in the East Region in the J.D. Power and
Associates "2009 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Survey"
for the second consecutive year.  In the television study, FiOS outperformed
all competitors measured in overall satisfaction and three factors: 
performance and reliability, cost of service, and offers and promotions. 
Verizon's consumer broadband services also outperform all their competitors
when it comes to overall customers satisfaction in the East, according to the
J.D. Power and Associates "2009 Internet Service Provider (ISP) Residential
Customer Satisfaction Study"(SM) released Oct. 28.

Customers interested in FiOS TV can visit www.verizon.com/fiostv or call
1-888-GET FiOS (888-438-3467) for more information.

FiOS is also available to small and medium-sized businesses.  Business
customers can learn more about business-grade FiOS services at
www.verizon.com/bizfiostv, or by calling 877-FiOS BIZ (877-346-7249).

FiOS TV Service Highlights

FiOS TV service highlights include:

    --  More than 600 all-digital channels in Allentown grouped by genres such
        as entertainment, sports, news, marketplace, music, movies and family,
        making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.
    --  A total of 128 HD channels available in Allentown, with extraordinary
        clarity and theater-quality sound.
    --  An industry-leading library of more than 18,000 video-on-demand (VOD)
        titles each month, 70 percent of which are free. In addition, the VOD
        library includes more than 2,400 HD titles per month.
    --  An innovative interactive media guide (IMG) that provides
        next-generation, personalized interactive services, along with content
        from TV listings, VOD catalogs and the digital video recorder (DVR),
as
        well as personal music, videos and photos from a home network.  Among
        the features of the IMG are:
        --  Multi-Room DVR - Use one DVR to record HD and SD programs on 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.
        --  Media Manager - This feature lets FiOS DVR customers access
personal
            photos, videos, music and slide shows from their home computers
and
            play them on their TVs.  Customers who subscribe to Media Manager
            also can search for and enjoy on their TV screens online videos
from
            blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh.
        --  Remote DVR management - Subscribers can remotely control their
DVRs
            online, and via any cell phone with a data plan.  Customers can
use
            the service to remotely review, change or add recording requests;
            delete recorded programs; browse and search TV and VOD listings;
set
            parental controls; and more.
        --  Widgets - Customers have one-touch, on-demand access to
personalized
            information such as local traffic reports, daily local and
national
            news headlines, fantasy sports, daily national sports headlines,
and
            daily horoscopes, as well as interactive social TV applications
from
            Twitter and Facebook, all while still enjoying their TV
programming.
            Additional widgets include:
            --  ESPN Fantasy Football - FiOS TV customers who are registered
                users of ESPN Fantasy Football will have instant on-screen
                access to personalized NFL statistics, including rosters, box
                scores, scoring leaders and player information.
            --  Pro Football Widget - One-stop access to NFL stats and the NFL
                RedZone channel, giving customers who subscribe to the channel
                the ability to set on-screen alerts for whenever a team is
                moving inside its opponent's 20-yard line.  The alerts, once
set
                up, pop up at the bottom of the TV screen while subscribers
are
                watching any channel.
            --  KODAK Widget - This widget gives registered KODAK Gallery
users
                instant on-screen access to photos and slideshows that they
have
                stored on Kodak's online digital photo service.
            --  Weatherbug Widget - Provides instant access to real-time,
                personalized weather information and forecasts.  Users can
                customize weather reports by any ZIP code, pull up hourly or
                seven-day forecasts and view radar weather imagery to see how
                local conditions are developing.
        --  Free casual games - With the remote control and an HD set-top box,
            customers can access chess, solitaire, sudoku 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.
        --  Dual Pause and Play - 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, making FiOS TV an outlet for emerging
and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

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 offers FiOS Internet Service, which delivers
downstream speeds of up to 50 Mbps** (megabits per second) and upstream speeds
of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice services.

Free Verizon Wi-Fi access at thousands of locations across the U.S. is
available for FiOS Internet customers with up to 20 Mbps-or-faster
packages.***  Free Wi-Fi hot-spot locations include hotels, airports,
restaurants, coffee shops, retailers and other public locations across the
U.S.  For a list of hot-spot locations, visit www.verizon.com/hotspots.

The value of FiOS TV extends to installation and customer support. Specially
trained Verizon technicians will install the service for up to three existing
TV outlets and acquaint subscribers with FiOS TV features and services. 
Verizon provides 24 x 7 technical assistance by phone from its Fiber Solutions
Centers.

Verizon FiOS customers also have access to the Verizon In-Home Agent, a free
application that gives them valuable tools to set up services, configure Wi-Fi
links, set up and manage voice mail, auto-fix video problems, and
trouble-shoot and correct Internet issues - all with the simple click of a
mouse.

In April, the Allentown City Council approved a bill authorizing Verizon to
offer its FiOS TV to city residents.  As part of the cable franchise
agreement, Verizon will make FiOS TV available throughout the city within
eight years.

FiOS TV currently is available to nearly 300 communities in southeastern,
south-central and western Pennsylvania, as well as parts of 13 other states.

(More information about FiOS TV and fiber optics is available in Verizon's
online News Center at www.verizon.com/news.)


* Plus applicable taxes and fees.

**  Internet speeds refer to the connection speed between the user's location
and Verizon's central office.  Actual surfing speeds will vary based on many
factors and be lower than connection speed.

*** Verizon Wi-Fi available with select packages and in designated locations
only. Software limitations and other terms apply.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global
leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications
services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. 
Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving
more than 89 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged
communications, information and entertainment services over America's most
advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business
solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a
diverse workforce of more than 230,000 and last year generated consolidated
revenues of more than $97 billion.  For more information, visit
www.verizon.com. 

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and
biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other
information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at
www.verizon.com/news.  To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News
Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news
releases.

SOURCE  Verizon

Lee Gierczynski of Verizon, +1-412-633-5574, lee.j.gierczynski@verizon.com

 

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