Verizon customers in Annandale now can experience breathtaking high-speed Internet access as the company begins to offer its Verizon FiOS (FYE’-ose) Internet service to homes here.

Verizon is rolling out the industry’s premier consumer broadband services to many of its customers in this Northern Virginia community, as well as the areas around Braddock Road and Little River Turnpike between the Capital Beltway and Interstate 395.



Verizon currently offers FiOS services in Falls Church and adjacent portions of Arlington and Fairfax counties in Northern Virginia, as well as the Wheaton area in Montgomery County, Md., and other areas around the country.

The company is delivering FiOS services over its new fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, which the company is currently building in portions of Northern Virginia and 12 other states. The new network will cover parts of Annandale, Falls Church, Herndon, Leesburg, McLean, Oakton, Reston and Springfield, as well as other parts of Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties. The company will launch FiOS Internet service as it becomes available in these 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 access 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.

“FiOS is setting the new standard for consumer broadband services in America,” said. Bob Ingalls, president of Verizon’s Retail Markets Group. “Our customers who already subscribe to FiOS services are astounded at what they now can do with their online experience. Video chats and conferencing, purchased digital movie downloads and interactive multi-player games have become a part of their daily lives.”

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.

“The Internet is an increasingly interactive place where quickly sending information is just as important as quickly receiving it,” Ingalls said. “From uploading multi-megabyte e-mails with photo attachments, to interacting with the office from home, FiOS gives customers unprecedented speed, efficiency and productivity at very competitive prices.”

FiOS Internet services now are available to many Verizon customers in the 703 area code whose phone numbers have the following prefixes: 235, 238, 256, 315, 316, 320, 333, 354, 428, 642, 658, 750, 813, 914, 916, 941 and 942. 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.