Verizon Takes First Step To Bring Cable TV Competition To Western New York

Buffalo, NY - Building on its all-fiber-optic network that continues to grow in the Buffalo area, Verizon announced plans recently to establish a video hub office in Erie County.

The office, which will distribute Verizon's FiOS TV service to televisions in thousands of homes by late next year, represents the first step in the company's efforts to provide a real alternative to cable television service in the area.

Verizon will begin construction on the video hub facility and expects to start offering FiOS TV service in parts of Erie County late next year.

Maura Breen, senior vice president and general manager for New York and Connecticut, said, "We're proud of our track record in rolling out FiOS Internet services to the western New York region, and we are delighted to begin the process of offering our customers — and future customers — choice and competition for their TV service, initially in Erie County."

Verizon customers in the towns and villages of Hamburg and Orchard Park, parts of West Seneca, Amherst and Cheektowaga, and in parts of the University District in Buffalo, already enjoy ultra-fast FiOS Internet service, delivered over the company's futuristic all-fiber network, which brings cable-killing speed and capacity directly to their homes.

The leader in deployment of broadband networks, Verizon began building its next-generation fiber network in eight communities in the western part of the state in 2006. The following year, those communities began receiving Verizon's FiOS Internet service over the fiber connections directly to their homes.

Verizon currently has secured video franchises in 62 New York communities in the downstate areas of Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and in Westchester and Rockland counties north of New York City.

In addition to New York, Verizon currently offers FiOS TV in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

SOURCE Verizon Communications Inc.