Dec 14 2007
The future of television has arrived for thousands of Portland Metro consumers as Verizon today announced the launch of its industry-leading FiOS TV service in the greater Portland area. With the launch of its video service in Oregon, Verizon now offers FiOS TV in 13 states.
Verizon delivers FiOS TV over the nation's largest digital, all-fiber network, which has earned certification from the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.
The launch of FiOS TV in the state makes a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality available to 152,000 Oregon households initially, representing 410,000 potential viewers, where FiOS voice and Internet service are already available.
With the immediate availability of FiOS TV to customers in Aloha, Beaverton, Cornelius, Dundee, Durham, Hillsboro, King City, McMinnville, Newberg, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville (and Forest Grove and Sherwood later this month), Verizon intends to compete even more aggressively against the local cable provider for customers.
'Liberation Day for Disgruntled Cable TV Customers'
"This is liberation day for disgruntled cable TV customers in metro Portland," said David S. Valdez, Verizon's senior vice president of public affairs, policy and communications for the Northwest. "Verizon FiOS data and television service delivers unmatched speeds, incredible picture-and-sound clarity and innovative new services from a brand people know and trust. Thousands of consumers in the area are signing up every month for our voice and high-speed Internet services. Based on consumer reaction in our 12 other FiOS TV states, we expect a huge wave of customers will leave their cable TV provider and jump on the FiOS TV bandwagon."
At the end of the third quarter, Verizon announced that it had 717,000 FiOS TV subscribers and more than 1.3 million FiOS Internet subscribers.
In Oregon, a franchise agreement with the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission (MACC) set the stage for approval by 10 cities in Washington County and the county itself. Additional TV franchises have been approved in Dundee, McMinnville, Newberg and Wilsonville.
"The launch of FiOS TV is great news for consumers who have waited a very long time for true competition and a superior choice of television service for the home," said Dustin Kroeger, West Coast marketing director for Verizon.
State and local officials commended Verizon for its FiOS service in the Portland area.
"FiOS is an advanced technology that brings new competition into the marketplace to the advantage of Portland area consumers," said state Rep. David Edwards of Beaverton. "This is the type of far-sighted investment we like to see here because everyone benefits."
Said MACC Administrator Bruce Crest, "The Metropolitan Area Communications Commission is very happy to have played a part in bringing cable competition to our area. We expect it will help contain rates, improve both the quality and amount of services available, and ensure excellent customer service. Most important, it provides our consumers with a choice between cable providers."
Network Reliability, Competitive Pricing Spur FiOS Growth
Verizon, the first company to connect homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread scale, offers its FiOS voice and Internet service in more than 1,700 cities in parts of 16 states. FiOS TV is the only TV service delivered over the nation's most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses.
To date, Verizon has deployed more than 6.5 million feet of fiber in its fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network in the Portland area and hired more than 125 full-time employees and 800 contractors during the past two years.
Portland area residents who are FiOS TV-eligible now have the option to trim their monthly bills by bundling FiOS TV service, FiOS Internet service and the Verizon Freedom Essentials unlimited calling plan, all for as low as $104.99 a month when ordering a two-year plan. A la carte and one-year plans are also available.
FiOS TV Service Highlights
FiOS TV represents an excellent value when compared to competitors' offerings, which typically include fewer channels at a higher price.
Service highlights include:
- FiOS TV Premier, the lead offer, with more than 250 all-digital channels for $42.99 per month.
- 27 high-definition channels with extraordinary clarity and theater- quality sound.
- A library of more than 10,000 on-demand titles, 60 percent of which are free.
- Channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.
- An interactive media guide that helps customers quickly and easily find and enjoy content from TV listings, video-on-demand catalogs and digital video recorders (DVR) as well as personal music and photos from a home network.
- Set-top boxes ranging from a standard-definition box for $4.99 per month to the Home Media DVR, featuring a multi-room DVR that enables up to three simultaneous viewings of recorded programs without requiring customers to set up a complex home network or buy extra equipment. The recorder is bundled with Media Manager, a new feature that lets customers easily access photos and music from their PCs and play them on their televisions. Home Media DVR is $19.99 per month.
- FiOS TV Widgets, a free interactive feature that provides local weather and traffic information while customers are watching their favorite shows.
FiOS TV also features diverse entertainment in a variety of languages. Spanish-speaking viewers can choose La Conexion, a package of nearly 140 popular English and Spanish-language channels for $32.99 per month, or a Spanish-language package for $11.99 per month. Verizon also offers 14 international premium channels in languages such as Chinese, French, Italian, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese.
Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network is currently under construction in parts of 16 states. In addition to Oregon, Verizon currently offers FiOS TV in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.