The Verizon FiOS TV service in Manatee County expanded by 3,300 households and in the Venice and Osprey area to 6,660 households as Verizon began offering its triple-play bundles of Internet, TV and unlimited voice services in Palmetto, Palma Sola, Venice, and Osprey. The FiOS bundles are delivered over Verizon's all-fiber network, directly to people's homes and businesses.

Initially, the majority of the households eligible for FiOS will be in Palmetto, however it's projected to grow to more than 10,000 households in Venice and Osprey by years end. Verizon is projecting that 4,000 more households will be open for service by year-end, with about half of those in the Palma Sola community, as Verizon completes the necessary construction and engineering activities to expand availability. While FiOS has been available to other areas largely in the middle and southern portions of Manatee County, today's announcement marks the first expansion into northwestern parts of the county.

To date, Verizon has deployed over 8.85 million feet of fiber in Manatee County, 6.3 million feet of fiber in Sarasota County and 51 million feet of fiber in its Florida service territory. More than 520,000 households in Hillsborough, Pasco, Sarasota, Manatee and northern Pinellas counties can now order one or more of the FiOS services.

Verizon, providing FiOS services on the nation's most advanced digital all-fiber-optic network, recently had its FiOS Internet service named a winner of PC World Magazine's 100 Best Products of 2007 Awards. The only Internet service to make the prestigious list, Verizon FiOS Internet was ranked fourth on the magazine's roster of what it calls "the finest products and services of the past 12 months," which were selected "based on exemplary design, features, performance and innovation." Additionally, only Verizon's network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers' homes.

Consumers can check online at can you get FiOS TV to see if it's already available in their area.