Henrico County residents are a major step closer to having more choice for their cable television services, thanks to the Board of Supervisors' vote last night (June 13) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic-powered FiOS TV here.

The county, with approximately 112,000 households, is the first central Virginia jurisdiction to award Verizon a cable franchise, and it joins a growing list of the state's communities that have granted franchises to Verizon. The jurisdictions include Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties, the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, the towns of Herndon and Dumfries, and the Marine Corps Base at Quantico. These Virginia franchises cover more than 671,000 households with more than 1.8 million potential viewers.

Verizon, which launched FiOS TV last September in Keller, Texas, currently offers the service in parts of northern Virginia, California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Texas. The company will announce its FiOS TV plans for Henrico County later this year.

"We applaud Henrico officials for their foresight in giving local citizens the ability to choose their video provider as easily as they now choose their phone company," said Robert W. Woltz Jr., president of Verizon Virginia. "Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will compete aggressively for business in Henrico County with our FiOS services, which are fueled by our lightning-fast fiber-optic network."

The agreement requires Verizon to pay the community franchise fees based on the company's gross revenues on cable services.