Residents in the Long Island village of Lynbrook are a major step closer to choice for their cable television services, thanks to the village Board of Trustees' vote last night (July 17) to award a video franchise to Verizon for its FiOS TV service. Also last night, the Rockland County village of Grandview-on-Hudson granted Verizon a video franchise, increasing the company's total number of franchises in the state to 10.

FiOS TV is Verizon's state-of-the-art, fiber-optic television service, which will be delivered via the company's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. Verizon is the first company to offer such a communications network, connecting homes and businesses directly to fiber optics on a widespread scale.

Lynbrook is the sixth Long Island community to grant Verizon a cable franchise, following the communities of Massapequa Park, Cedarhurst, Laurel Hollow, the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay. In addition to Grandview-on-Hudson, the Rockland County villages of Nyack, South Nyack and Upper Nyack have also granted Verizon cable franchises. While Lynbrook falls within the Town of Hempstead, it is an incorporated village. Each incorporated village must conduct its own negotiations with Verizon for a video franchise.

Customers in Lynbrook join this growing list of New York communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreement between Lynbrook and Verizon is subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

"We applaud Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato and the Village Trustees for helping to bring choice and control to the residents of Lynbrook," said Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut. "Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and we will continue to compete for Long Island consumers' communications, broadband and video business with our FiOS services.

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

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.

FiOS TV is designed to be a formidable competitor to cable and satellite, offering a broad collection of all-digital programming, more than 20 high-definition channels, video on demand and more. Verizon's fiber network 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.