Verizon introduced FiOS TV to this community of 11,500 north of Boston, providing residents with a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality. Lynnfield joins Woburn and Reading as the first Bay State markets for the company's new fiber-optic television service, delivered over the only all-digital, fiber network that is being made available, on a mass scale, to millions of individual homes and businesses.

Verizon launched FiOS TV in Keller, Texas, last September and began taking orders in Woburn in February. The company also has begun offering the service elsewhere in Texas, as well as in parts of New York, California, Florida, Maryland and Virginia.

"FiOS TV gives Lynnfield consumers an outstanding, superior alternative for their video entertainment," said Donna Cupelo, Verizon region president for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. "Customers who liked what FiOS did for their Internet connection will love what it does for their TV. We’ve harnessed the speed and capacity of fiber-based broadband with the power of broadcast to create a revolutionary, new entertainment experience," said Cupelo.

Service highlights include:

• A broad collection of all-digital programming and compelling consumer choice – with more than 350 total channels and more on the way.
• A lead offer with more than 180 digital video and music channels, for $34.95 a month with Verizon FiOS Internet Service or a qualifying voice plan or $39.95 as a stand-alone service.
• More than 20 high-definition channels, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.
• More than 2,200 On Demand titles available to customers now, increasing to over 3,500 titles in the next several months.
  
  Channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.
• An easy-to-use interactive programming guide that integrates HD programming, On Demand content and the digital video recorder along with broadcast television into a seamless user experience.
• A dual-tuner, HD-capable DVR that gives customers the freedom to pause and rewind live TV, record one show while watching another, and fast forward to their favorite part of the program – all without a VCR, tapes or DVDs.

Information on packages and prices is available at www.verizon.net/fiostv. Lynnfield, Reading and Woburn-area customers also can call 1-800-880-2943 to see if they’re able to order FiOS TV.

Verizon obtained a local video franchise in Lynnfield in March and is currently in negotiations with more than 40 other communities in Massachusetts to obtain additional franchises. For more information on the Verizon franchise process in the state, log onto www.verizon.com/ma.

Verizon research indicates 87 percent of Massachusetts residents favor more competition and choice for video services. Independent studies have shown that competition in the video market brings enormous benefits to consumers in the form of reduced prices, better packages and improved service.

A recent study by the Phoenix Center found that just one year’s delay in franchise reform costs Commonwealth residents $165 million. Under current state law, potential competitors to the incumbent cable-TV operators must obtain video franchises in each community they seek to serve. Verizon recently filed a proposal with the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy that calls for a shorter and more certain time frame for obtaining local video franchises.

Delivered over Verizon’s fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, FiOS TV is designed to be a formidable competitor to cable and satellite. The Verizon 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, including more than 50 Massachusetts communities. The network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people’s homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps as well as high-quality voice services.

Programming choices for Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Russian and other multicultural audiences are available in every market. Because FiOS TV has so much capacity, it is an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.