Verizon Granted Statewide Video Franchise in California

Following on a similar and crucial success just a few months ago in New Jersey, Verizon Communications Inc. on Thursday said it has been granted a statewide video franchise in California by the state’s public utilities commission.

Under the franchise, Verizon said it can offer FiOS TV in 45 more communities in southern California. These are in addition to the 18 communities where the service is already available under locally approved franchises.

Later this month the company will announce the communities that will be first to get FiOS TV under the state-issued franchise. They will include many in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and San Bernardino counties where construction of Verizon’s all-fiber-optic network is already complete. Verizon will announce more communities as workers finish the network construction in new areas.

While IPTV providers had been seeking franchises on a municipality-by-municipality basis, the approval of video franchising laws that promise a response on a statewide franchise in a set amount of time are far more alluring in terms of time and resources.

Disputes between carriers and municipalities are not uncommon as illustrated by an impasse hit by AT&T Inc. and the City of Naperville, Ill., where months of negotiations to bring the carrier’s U-verse TV-driven package to its residents have failed with each side blaming the other for the breakdown.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the video franchise bill into law in early October.

Verizon’s FiOS TV Premier package delivers 200 all-digital channels – including a diverse array of multicultural programming – for $42.99 per month. The package includes 21 high-definition (HD) channels, and five more HD channels are available with premium movie subscriptions. Under the basic package, viewers can choose from a VoD library of 8,600 titles with 60 percent of those selections available without an additional charge.

Verizon offers innovative features such as Home Media DVR and FiOS TV Widgets. Home Media DVR, at $19.99 per month, allows the family to use one DVR to access recorded programming from multiple rooms in the house. Customers also can access photos and music on their PCs and play them on their TV.

FiOS TV Widgets is a free interactive feature that provides viewers with local weather and traffic information while they’re watching their favorite shows.

Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines