Verizon Boosts Broadband, Bows Local Channels In New York
Telco Debuts FiOS1 for Long Island, Northern New Jersey and Increases FiOS Internet Speeds
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 6/22/2009 4:00:00 PM
Verizon Communications is looking to bring summer heat to cable competitors, bumping up the speeds of its FiOS Internet services nationwide and launching two local news and information channels in the New York area.
Starting Monday, June 22, Verizon will offer FiOS TV subscribers on New York's Long Island and in nine counties in northern New Jersey two new channels, FiOS1 Long Island and FiOS1 New Jersey, that will deliver local programming including news, traffic and weather reports.
The expected FiOS1 channel launches in New York were reported last week by Multichannel News.
The two biggest incumbent cable operators in the New York metro area have long provided their own local news channels: Time Warner Cable's NY1 and Cablevision Systems' News 12
Verizon does not yet have a FiOS1 channel for New York City: "Right now, we're focused on Long Island and North Jersey and our plan is to take FiOS1 beyond the area in the not too distant future," spokeswoman Heather Wilner wrote in an e-mail.
In a statement Cablevision said, "We don't believe a phone company news channel will be in any way comparable to the authoritative information available from News 12 and News 12 Traffic & Weather."
On the broadband front, Verizon is accelerating nationwide. Verizon as of Monday in all markets is kicking up the speed of its entry-level FiOS Internet service from 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up to 15/5 Mbps. The midtier offering is being increased from 20/5 Mbps to 25/15 Mbps. The tiers are available only in bundles with TV and phone service.
In New York City, on Long Island and in other New York City suburbs, the telco's entry-level speed is now 25 Mbps down and 15 Mbps up, while the midtier offering has been increased to 35/20 Mbps. The top FiOS Internet tier remains 50/20 Mbps, half the downstream of Cablevision's 101-Mbps DOCSIS 3.0-based service targeted at small businesses and high-end consumers but more than Cablevision's 15 Mbps upstream.
Also Monday, Verizon announced customer-acquisition promotions through August 15 offering qualifying new subscribers a free Hewlett-Packard Compaq Mini netbook (valued at $299) or Cisco Flip Ultra camcorder (valued at $150).
New customers who sign up for a triple bundle that consists of FiOS Internet with a connection speed of 25/15 Mbps or higher, FiOS TV Extreme HD service and FiOS Essentials voice service will receive their choice of a free Compaq Mini netbook or a Flip Ultra. New customers who order a triple bundle that consists of FiOS Internet with a connection speed of 15/5 Mbps or higher, FiOS TV Essentials service and Freedom Essentials voice service will receive a free Flip Ultra camcorder, or they can opt to purchase a Compaq Mini for $99.99.
New DSL customers who sign up for a one-year, double- or triple-play bundle that includes either the up-to-3 Mbps/768 Kbps or up-to-7.1 Mbps/768 Kbps service will receive their choice of a free Compaq Mini netbook or Flip Ultra camcorder. Existing Verizon voice customers who add either the up-to-3 or up-to-7.1 Mbps high-speed Internet service will receive their choice of a Compaq Mini netbook for $99.99 or a free Flip Ultra camcorder.
For the FiOS1 local channels in New York, Verizon's partners in Long Island include the North Shore-LIJ Health System and in New Jersey include The Star Ledger/NJ.com and NJN Public Television.
Verizon also is working with WRNN - the Regional News Network, which has primary production facilities in Rye Brook, N.Y. WRNN had appealed to the Federal Communications Commission to force Cablevision to carry its feed in Long Island.
Both FiOS1 Long Island and FiOS1 New Jersey will feature high school games of the week, including football, basketball, lacrosse, fencing, bowling and wrestling. FiOS1 New Jersey will also carry several Rutgers University sports including at least three women's basketball games.
Viewers must subscribe to Verizon FiOS TV in order to access FiOS1. The Long Island version is now available to customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, while the Garden State version is available in parts of 240 communities in nine northern New Jersey counties: Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset, Passaic and Union.
The telco is offering a video preview of Verizon's FiOS1 channels on Long Island and in North Jersey here: http://verizon.mediaseed.tv/Story.aspx?story=36772. The move into local New York programming comes more than two years after Verizon's debut of FiOS1 in the Washington, D.C., area.
Verizon reported 2.2 million FiOS TV subscribers as of the end of March. The service is currently available to more than 9.2 million homes in 14 states.
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Cablevision adds 27 new channels this week. Take that Fios.
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Jimmy Dolan - 6/22/2009 1:52:19 PM EDT -
Hooray. Take that Cablevision. I've had enough of dealing with Cablevision's unreliable service. My internet has cut out twice in the last month! Yet another good reason to leave Cablevision...just watch their monopoly erode
Matt Jildrin - 6/22/2009 1:11:54 PM EDT
FiOS TV Expands In SoCal
07/14/2009FiOS 50-Meg Goes Wide
06/21/2008FiOS TV Finally Gets MSNBC In NY DMA
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