Verizon Statement on PSC Confirmation of Company's Video Franchise for Two More New York Communities

NEW YORK - The New York Public Service Commission today confirmed Verizon's video franchise in the Rockland County communities of Nyack and South Nyack. The villages awarded the company the franchises last November. The commission has the authority to review franchise agreements between local governments in New York and TV providers, such as Verizon, to make sure the agreements comply with statewide rules and regulations. In January, Verizon began offering residents in the Long Island village of Massapequa Park FiOS TV - all-digital services with more than 330 channels, delivered over an all-fiber network. Verizon currently is bringing fiber connections directly to homes and small business in more than half the states where it offers landline communications services, including 115 communities in New York.

The following statement should be attributed to Thomas McCarroll, Verizon vice president for regulatory affairs in New York and Connecticut.

"The PSC's confirmation of the franchise agreements for Nyack and South Nyack takes us an important step closer toward providing the choice and competition that these villages have long demanded. Verizon remains focused on moving forward quickly to make FiOS TV available to the residents of Nyack and South Nyack later this year.

"We believe these communities - and all communities where we plan to deliver FiOS TV - benefit most from policies that recognize the world has changed and that technology offers consumers a real alternative to cable TV. The right public policy encourages investment in this new technology, which puts real cable choice and control in the hands of customers."

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