The first customers in Hillsborough County can now get Verizon FiOS TV, with amazingly sharp pictures and sound and offering a true choice for subscription television and On Demand programming, via the company's all-digital, fiber-optic network. Verizon is the only company to offer such a communications network all the way to customers in millions of homes and offices across the country.

Today Verizon is turning on fiber-optic TV services -- FiOS TV -- for more than 33,000 households in Hillsborough County. The service introduction follows the Hillsborough County Commission's decision on Feb. 1 to grant Verizon a franchise to provide television services in the unincorporated parts of the county.

The communities where FiOS TV service will be available in this initial offering are Carrollwood, Sulphur Springs, Lutz, Oldsmar, Temple Terrace (serving areas of the county around that city), Wesley Chapel, Brandon, Tampa East and neighborhoods around the University of South Florida.

"This is a day people have been clamoring for," said Alan Ciamporcero, Verizon's Southeast region president. "No longer will consumers be at the mercy of a single cable TV company. They'll have Verizon FiOS TV."

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 (HD) channels, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.
• Over 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 http://www.verizon.net/fiostv. Customers also can call 1-800-880-2941 to see if they are able to order FiOS TV.

Hillsborough joins the city of Temple Terrace and parts of southern Manatee County as FiOS TV markets in Florida. Early response to the television, data and voice offerings in those areas has been strong. In the months ahead, more households will be added to the inventory of eligible customers, while construction and engineering continues as well. FiOS TV is also available to customers in 14 North Texas communities near Dallas; Herndon, Reston and surrounding parts of Fairfax County, Va.; Massapequa Park, N.Y.; Reading and Woburn, Mass; and Beaumont and Murrieta, Calif.

"Our plan is to add more households each month while also managing the available work force to meet consumer demand," said Ciamporcero. "We want to deliver FiOS television and high-speed Internet services to consumers as quickly as possible."

Additionally, Verizon continues to negotiate with the City of Tampa, Pasco County and Sarasota County for franchises while it also participates in an industry push to create state-issued franchising during this legislative session.

Delivered over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, FiOS TV is 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 20 Florida wire centers.

To date, Verizon has deployed nearly 7 million feet of fiber in Hillsborough County. The network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people's homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber delivers high quality 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 African-American, Asian, Russian and other multicultural and ethnic audiences will be available in every market. Because FiOS TV has so much capacity, it will also be an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.