Residents of the Westchester County city of Peekskill and the Long Island village of East Williston are a major step closer to having a real choice for their cable television services, thanks to newly approved agreements authorizing Verizon to offer its FiOS TV service, delivered over the most advanced fiber-optic network straight to customers' homes.

Peekskill's Common Council and the Board of Trustees for East Williston both granted video franchises to Verizon Monday (Sept. 10), paving the way for video choice in the community. These votes bring to 61 the total number of New York communities that have approved video franchises for Verizon.

"We are thrilled to bring FiOS TV to more New York residents, who now will have a new choice for their video entertainment," said Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut. "Verizon's FiOS TV offers consumers something they've never had before, with incredible pictures and sound clarity and innovative new services - all from a brand they know and trust."

Peekskill and East Williston join a growing list of New York communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market. In addition to these municipalities, Verizon has been granted video franchises on Long Island in the villages of Massapequa Park, Cedarhurst, Laurel Hollow, Lynbrook, Mineola, East Rockaway, Farmingdale, Valley Stream, Freeport, Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Sands Point, Bayville, Old Field, Floral Park, South Floral Park, Garden City, Nissequogue and Poquott, and in the towns of North Hempstead, Huntington, Smithtown, Hempstead, Oyster Bay and Islip. Verizon also has video franchises in the Rockland County communities of Spring Valley, Chestnut Ridge, Airmont, Piermont, Orangetown, Clarkstown, Nyack, South Nyack, Upper Nyack, Grandview-on-Hudson, Suffern, West Haverstraw, the Town of Haverstraw and the Village of Haverstraw; and in the Westchester County communities of Yonkers, Bronxville, Scarsdale, Cortlandt, New Rochelle, Mount Pleasant, Mount Vernon, North Castle, White Plains, Rye Brook, Irvington, Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Eastchester, Mount Kisco, Elmsford, Port Chester, Tuckahoe and the Town of Greenburgh.

As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreements between Verizon and Peekskill and East Williston are subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

Verizon's FiOS TV is a formidable competitor to cable and satellite, offering a broad collection of all-digital programming, 28 high-definition channels in the New York market and access to more than 8,600 on-demand titles, 60 percent of which are free.

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. In addition to FiOS TV, Verizon's fiber network also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice service.*