Indiana consumers will benefit from competition and greater choice as a result of the overwhelming support by the state's General Assembly that passed a new telecom and video reform legislation signed into law today by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

House Bill 1279 was recently approved in the Indiana Senate by a 42-7 vote, and overwhelmingly passed in the Indiana House by a 78-18 vote for concurrence.

"Consumers win when markets are competitive," said Verizon Great Lakes Region President Gale Given. "Equally important, this new law will encourage investment in the state of Indiana by companies large and small.

"We appreciate Gov. Daniels' support and commend the Indiana General Assembly for the bipartisan support to approve this legislation that will benefit consumers across the state," said Given.

Verizon also extended special recognition to Sens. Brandt Hershman, Committee Chair Tom Wyss and Earlene Rogers; and to Reps. Mike Murphy, Eric Koch, Carolene Mays, Dale Grubb, Louie Mahern and their colleagues in the Indiana Senate and House of Representatives.

Since early 2005, Verizon has deployed more than 7.6 million feet of fiber in Fort Wayne and New Haven. Delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, Verizon FiOS is designed to be a formidable competitor in Internet, voice and video service. Verizon's FTTP network, the largest of its kind in the country, is currently under construction in more than half the states where the company offers landline communications services.

The company has created more than 200 new full-time positions and retained the use of more than 800 contractors in the region since it began constructing its high-capacity, fiber-optic network in Fort Wayne and New Haven.

The network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people's homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. The service also features approximate downstream (download) speeds of up to 5, 15 and 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upstream (upload) speeds of up to 5 Mbps as well as high-quality voice services.

More information about Verizon FiOS Internet Service and fiber optics is available in Verizon's online news center at www.verizon.net/fios.