More than 36,000 potential viewers in Laurel are a major step closer to having more choice for their cable television services, thanks to the Laurel City Council's vote last night (May 22) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV here.

The city of Laurel is the 10th jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area to award Verizon a cable franchise. The other jurisdictions are: Howard County and Bowie in Maryland; and Fairfax and Prince William counties, the cities of Fairfax, Falls Church, Dumfries, Herndon, and the Marine Corps Base at Quantico in Virginia.

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 will announce its FiOS TV plans for Laurel later this year.

"Laurel officials recognize that competition works, and benefits consumers in the video service market. They showed foresight in giving their constituents the ability to choose their video provider as easily as they now choose their phone company," said William R. Roberts, president of Verizon Maryland. "Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will compete aggressively for business in Laurel with our FiOS services, which are fueled by our lightning-fast fiber-optic network.

"We hope to bring these benefits to more Maryland consumers by reaching similar agreements with other municipalities."

Under the 15-year agreement, Verizon will be able to offer FiOS TV service to residents of the city. In addition, the agreement requires Verizon to pay the community franchise fees based on the company's gross revenues on cable services.