The Rockland County town of Clarkstown is bringing its residents a major step closer to choice for cable television services, thanks to a unanimous vote by the Town Board to award a video franchise to Verizon for its FiOS TV service.

Clarkstown is the 12th community in New York State - and the fifth in Rockland County - to grant a video franchise to Verizon. This franchise covers Clarkstown's unincorporated hamlets of New City, Congers, Valley Cottage, Bardonia, Nanuet, West Nyack, Central Nyack and Rockland Lake.

"Reaching a dozen communities in New York with FiOS TV within the last year is a significant milestone for us," said Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut. "This is great news for the residents of Clarkstown, who now will have a new choice for their video entertainment. We applaud Supervisor Alexander Gromack and the Town Board for helping to bring choice and control to their residents.

"We look forward to similarly successful negotiations with other towns and villages throughout New York State," said Azare.

Clarkstown joins a growing list of New York communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. Verizon already offers FiOS TV in the Rockland County villages of Nyack, South Nyack and Upper Nyack, as well as the Long Island communities of Massapequa Park, the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay. The company will launch service later this year in Clarkstown, as well as in the Long Island villages of Cedarhurst, Laurel Hollow, Lynbrook and Mineola, and the Rockland County community of Grandview-on-Hudson, all of which have approved cable franchises for Verizon.

As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreement between Clarkstown and Verizon is subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

Verizon, which launched FiOS TV last September in Keller, Texas, currently offers the service in parts of California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia. The company now has video franchises covering approximately 3 million households in nine states and more than 100 franchise areas. As the fiber network is fully deployed in franchise areas, Verizon will provide consumers with the opportunity to choose FiOS TV.