Verizon FiOS TV now offers 100 HD television channels to consumers in North Jersey. As a result of this major enhancement, Verizon is now offering consumers more HD than Comcast or Cablevision.

The new channel lineup will be offered to existing FiOS TV markets in northern New Jersey. Communities in the southern part of the state will see similar enhancements in the near future.

Verizon is making it easier to enjoy the ultimate home-entertainment experience with a new promotional savings offer for FiOS TV. New customers who subscribe to FiOS TV between now and Oct. 4 will receive their choice of a year's free use of either a HD DVR or an HD Home Media DVR. Verizon is also offering new FiOS TV customers, or existing customers who upgrade to a bundled package, one free month of HBO and Cinemax, which includes the latest hit movies, documentaries and original programming from more than 25 premium channels and access to hundreds of titles on VOD. New customers who take advantage of this offer will save between $200 and $260 the first year, depending upon the DVR customers choose.

For the second year in a row, Verizon's FiOS Internet service has been rated the best in PC Magazine's reader survey of "The Best (and Worst)" ISPs in America. Verizon High Speed Internet service also finished third in overall score on the list of the best DSL providers rated by the magazine's readers.

The survey, conducted between April 7 and May 14, 2008, asked PC Magazine readers to rate their Internet service providers, including fiber-based service, DSL, cable and satellite. The readers were asked to evaluate their provider on 11 categories ranging from speed and reliability to initial setup and overall rating.

Verizon FiOS TV has launched 22 new channels, including 15 additional HD channels. FiOS TV customers in Fort Wayne now have more than 440 HD choices available at any time, with a total of 41 HD channels and more than 400 HD VOD titles offered each month.

The first in a series of channel additions coming this year, new content includes sports favorites like the Big Ten Network and new HD channels like CNBC, Bravo and USA. The next series of content additions will include more HD channels, including CNN, TBS, Lifetime, three new Starz channels and two new Showtime channels, as well as 16 new multicultural channels.

Verizon will continue expanding its FiOS TV channel lineup this year, with a major focus on HD content. By year-end, Verizon will offer all available major HD programming.

Verizon FiOS TV customers now have a new tool to augment their TV viewing experience, with the launch of the new FiOS TV Central Web site. The site allows customers to use any desktop or laptop computer to review their local TV schedules and information about VOD and pay-per-view offerings. Soon, customers will also be able to use the site to program their DVR, among other features.

Verizon and Starz Entertainment announce a comprehensive, multiyear agreement that will bring exclusive hit movies from Starz to Verizon's more than 8.5 million broadband subscribers and the full array of Starz products to Verizon's FiOS IPTV and FiOS Internet and High Speed Internet customers.

Verizon's broadband customers can now visit www.verizon.net/starzplay to subscribe to Starz Play. Customers can access the service anywhere in the United States to watch live Starz programming and to download and view movies and videos an unlimited number of times at no additional charge. The movies include blockbusters such as "Ratatouille," "Spider-Man 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

Verizon announces that the company will offer exclusive video from the Tribeca Film Festival on Verizon Wireless' V CAST Video service and on Verizon's FiOS TV VOD service. Customers will be able to view trailers, short films and more on their mobile phones and, for the first time, in their own homes. In addition, customers will have access to three commissioned short films that are exclusively available on FiOS TV VOD and V CAST Video.

Verizon Wireless customers will also be able to view mobile shorts, red carpet coverage and celebrity interviews on their mobile phones. Full-feature films will be made available on Verizon's FiOS TV VOD service. Customers can learn more online at www.verizon.com/tribeca.

With the federal mandate to phase out analog television broadcasts approaching in early 2009, many consumers remain uncertain of what the change means for them. However, Verizon FiOS TV customers are ahead of the game. Verizon FiOS TV is already all-digital, so for most customers there will be no change. At the same time, Verizon is making other changes, and it is taking steps to ensure that customers are not confused by the phaseout of analog broadcasts.

Verizon is phasing out a small number of duplicate analog channels on the FiOS TV service so all customers will enjoy better-quality, all-digital viewing experiences on every set in their homes. Until now, Verizon has provided these duplicate channels to allow digital subscribers to view some limited programming in an analog format without using a set-top box.

Verizon has introduced FiOS TV to nearly 10,000 more Wareham, Massachusetts households. Wareham is among 66 Massachusetts communities where the company's new television service is being offered - the only TV service delivered over the nation's most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses.

Verizon is currently negotiating with several other communities in Massachusetts to obtain additional franchises.

Massachusetts residents who are FiOS TV-eligible now have the option to trim their monthly bills by bundling FiOS TV service, FiOS Internet service and the Verizon Freedom Value unlimited calling plan, all for $104.99 a month.

Residents of Roslyn Harbor on Long Island and the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess County are a major step closer to having a real choice for their cable television service, thanks to newly approved agreements authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service, delivered over the most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.

The Roslyn Harbor Board of Trustees granted a video franchise to Verizon March 19, while Wappinger's Board of Trustees approved a franchise Monday, March 24 paving the way for video choice in the communities. This vote brings to 102 the total number of New York communities that have approved video franchises for Verizon.

Residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, one of the largest apartment complexes in the city, will soon have access to the most advanced broadband technology available, under an agreement announced Monday, March 24th by Verizon and Tishman Speyer, the complex's owner and manager.

Verizon FiOS Internet service is now available in seven buildings in the 110-building complex, and more buildings will be provisioned for service in the weeks and months ahead. FiOS delivers Internet access with maximum downstream connection speed of up to 50 Mbps on the nation's most advanced digital, all-fiber-optic network. At 50 Mbps, downloading a 1.2 GB, or 90-minute, standard-definition movie takes approximately 3.2 minutes. Upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps make modern video and file-sharing a snap over the nation's only large-scale fiber-optics network that extends all the way to customers' homes or small and medium-sized businesses. Using a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a person could upload a 250 megabyte file or a 3,500 page document in about 90 seconds, compared with about 47 minutes over a 768 kilobits per second upstream connection.

Residents of Abington, Mass. are a major step closer to having another choice for their cable television services, thanks to a newly approved agreement authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service via the most advanced all-digital, fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes. The Board of Selectmen in Abington granted a cable franchise Monday to Verizon, paving the way for video choice for approximately 5,000 more Massachusetts households.

The board's vote brings to 66 the total number of Massachusetts communities where Verizon's FiOS TV is or will soon be available

Consumers in Wayland and Norfolk have more choice in cable TV providers now that Verizon has introduced FiOS TV, making a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality available to some 4,700 more Massachusetts households. Wayland and Norfolk are among 63 Massachusetts communities where the company's new television service is being offered - the only TV service delivered over the nation's most advanced all-fiber network directly connecting to millions of individual homes and businesses. FiOS TV is now available to consumers in more than 400,000 Massachusetts households.

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. Verizon announced that it surpassed 1 million FiOS TV customers in January after a banner 2007. 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.

Verizon plans to deploy its all-fiber-optic network all the way to customers' homes and businesses in areas east of Gresham along Highway 26 and across the Columbia River in Clark County, Washington. The company said it will extend the network this year to the communities of Damascus, Happy Valley and Sunnyside, as well as Camas and Washougal in Washington. It also will continue its network expansion in the Washington County and the east Multnomah communities of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village, as well as McMinnville in Yamhill County.

A total of 48,000 additional homes will be connected to the network, which delivers FiOS Internet service at download speeds of up to 30 mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 15 mbps, along with crystal-clear voice and more than 250 channels and 10,000 on-demand titles from FiOS TV. Below are the numbers of households in each community that will be added to the network: