Nearly 6 Million Homes Can Now Choose FiOS for Their TV Service
NEW YORK, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- In less than 28 months, more than 1
million customers have chosen Verizon FiOS TV, making the company the 10th
largest cable provider in the United States. The company announced Monday
(Jan. 28) that it surpassed 1 million FiOS TV customers in January after a
banner 2007. FiOS TV launched in September 2005.
"Some experts doubted that we could come this far this fast," said
Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Telecom. "We launched FiOS TV
just 28 months ago in one Texas market. While we're delighted to pass the 1
million milestone, we know that the real winners are our customers, who now
have a genuine choice for their cable television service," Ruesterholz
said.
Verizon delivers FiOS TV, FiOS Internet and voice service on the
nation's most advanced fiber-optic network all the way to customers' homes.
Verizon added 226,000 net FiOS TV customers in the fourth quarter and a
total of 736,000 during the year to end 2007 with 943,000 FiOS TV
customers. Including satellite TV customers served in partnership with
DIRECTV, Verizon has more than 1.8 million video customers.
At the end of the year, Verizon was marketing FiOS TV to nearly 5.9
million homes in 13 states, up nearly 1.2 million from the end of the third
quarter. That means Verizon's penetration rate for the service at the end
of 2007 averaged 16 percent across all markets, particularly impressive
since marketing has just begun in many communities. Verizon continues to
add new town and city TV franchises every week to continually expand the
number of customers who can order FiOS TV.
Verizon announced its 1 millionth customer for FiOS Internet service in
June 2007, and at year-end had more than 1.5 million FiOS Internet
subscribers, representing 20.6 percent penetration across all markets of
the nearly 7.5 million homes open for FiOS Internet sales. Combining FiOS
Internet and DSL, Verizon had 8.2 million total broadband connections at
year-end, up 17.9 percent from year-end 2006.
For FiOS TV, 2007 was the biggest year yet. Verizon became the 10th
largest cable provider in the U.S. by surpassing the total number of
customers served by Cable One, which reported just over 699,000 customers
at the end of the third quarter. The ninth-largest competitor is Mediacom
Communications with more than 1.3 million customers.
Also during 2007, Verizon rolled out its interactive media guide, which
gives customers more control of their viewing experience. All Verizon FiOS
TV customers now have the new, colorful IMG, and Verizon plans to add more
new FiOS TV features, including games and expanded Widgets, during 2008.
Verizon is continuing to add new high-definition channels and
programming. The next group of new HD channels will be available to
customers in the spring as the company moves toward its announced goal of
providing 150 HD channels by the end of 2008.
Verizon FiOS TV delivers hundreds of digital video and music channels,
high-definition programming, a library of more than 10,000 video-on-demand
titles and other innovative features. The service is available in parts of
California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a
leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless
communication innovations to mass market, business, government and
wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable
wireless network, serving nearly 66 million customers nationwide. Verizon's
Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and
seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon
Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications,
information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced
fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of
nearly 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of
more than $93 billion. For more information, visit http://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
http://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
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Related links:
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.verizon.com/news
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html/
CONTACT:
Sharon Cohen-Hagar, +1-908-559-3470,
sharon.cohen-hagar@verizon.com, or Eric Rabe, +1-908-559-3500,
eric.rabe@verizon.com, both of Verizon
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