Verizon customers can experience breathtaking high-speed Internet access as the company expands its Verizon Fios (FYE'-ose) Internet Service to portions of the Herndon, Reston and surrounding Fairfax County areas.

Verizon is rolling out the industry's premier consumer broadband services to a growing number of residents in Virginia. The company is offering three tiers of service with approximate downstream (download) speeds of up to 5, 15 and 30 Mbps (megabits per second).

Verizon is beginning to make Fios Internet Service available to customers in the Herndon and Reston areas. Customers who want to determine whether they can order Fios Internet Service can call 888-GET FIOS (888-438-3467) or visit Verizon's Fios Web site at www.verizon.net/fios.

Verizon is delivering Fios services over its new fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which the company is currently building in over half of the states where it offers landline communications services. In Virginia, Fios currently is available in other portions of Northern Virginia, and the company also is building its FTTP network in the Richmond and Virginia Beach areas.

FTTP technology utilizes fiber-optic connections – instead of copper wire – directly into homes and businesses to enable a broad array of voice, data and video applications. In addition to its current Fios Internet Service, Verizon plans to launch Fios TV in 2005 to compete directly with cable-TV providers. Fios TV will be available in markets where Verizon has negotiated cable franchise agreements with local authorities.

Customer reaction to Verizon's new fiber-based Internet access service has been very positive, with broadband subscribers already more than doubling in the company's inaugural Fios market of Keller, Texas, just outside Dallas/Fort Worth.

Ingalls added that Verizon is using the most advanced technology to deliver downstream and upstream speeds that will give customers truly interactive, two-way broadband capabilities.

Each Fios service is available either as part of a bundle of local and long-distance calling services from Verizon, or as a stand-alone Internet access service.

Each consumer data offer includes the suite of services currently available to Verizon Online DSL customers at no additional charge, including: MSN Premium content; Verizon's new Broadband Beat entertainment portal optimized for high-speed access featuring news, games, streaming video and more; up to nine e-mail accounts with 30 megabytes (MB) of storage for the primary account and an additional 10 MB for each sub-account; address book and calendar; 10 MB personal Web space and a Web-site building tool; and access to newsgroups.

For more information about Verizon FiOS, see our Verizon FiOS category or our article, "Have you caught the FiOS fever?"