Verizon announced it is building a fiber-optic network that will deliver faster data speeds, crystal-clear voice -- and also has the capability to offer a full suite of video services in the future – to residence and business customers in: Annadale, Bay Terrace, Bloomfield, Bulls Head, Charleston, Chelsea, Dongan Hills, Eltingville, Grant City, Graniteville, Great Kills, Heartland Village, High Rock, Huguenot, Latourette, Lighthouse Hill, Midland Beach, New Dorp, New Dorp Beach, New Springville, Oakwood, Oakwood Beach, Pleasant Plains, Princes Bay, Richmondtown, Richmond Valley, Rossville, Todt Hill, Tottenville, Westerleigh, Willowbrook and Woodrow. The company will seek a franchise agreement from the local authority before offering video service in a selected community.

Verizon announced a long-term affiliation agreement with The Weather Channel for two separate services -- The Weather Channel, the only national weather information network, and Weatherscan by The Weather Channel, an all-local, 24/7 network providing weather information for pinpointed areas in which subscribers reside.

Verizon will make the services available to all subscribers of Verizon FiOS TV, which launched Sept. 22 in Keller, Texas. The agreement was signed prior to the Keller launch.

Verizon customers can experience breathtaking high-speed Internet access as the company expands its Verizon FiOS (FYE'-ose) suite of Internet services to Siesta Key.

A growing number of residents and small businesses in parts of Siesta Key now can order the industry's premier mass-market broadband services. Verizon also offers FiOS data services in other parts of Sarasota and Manatee counties, as well as other communities in the region.

Verizon announced separate programming-distribution agreements with Lifetime Television, TV shopping network HSN, Jewelry Television and Ovation - The Art Network. The agreements were signed prior to the launch of Verizon FiOS TV in Keller, Texas, on Sept. 22. The programming is part of the FiOS TV offer now available in Keller, and it will be available in future FiOS TV markets.

The agreement with Lifetime Television includes Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network and Lifetime Real Women. The HSN agreement includes HSN and America's Store.

Espial, Latens, mPhase Technologies, Ranch Networks and SkyStream Collaborate in "One Room Schoolhouse" Learning Experience

It's back to school time at the Broadband World Forum 2005, where the IEC is sponsoring an IPTV Pavilion in the form of a one room schoolhouse Oct. 3-6, 2005. This pavilion provides attendees with learning experiences ranging from hands-on deployment tutorials for advanced IPTV broadband Internet offerings and interactive services, to advanced techniques for maximum service assurance, revenue protection and expansion.

As part of Scientific- Atlanta's expanding commitment to the Asia Pacific region, the company has completed the acquisition of all outstanding interests in the Scientific- Atlanta Shanghai Limited joint venture from the other shareholders. Going forward, Scientific-Atlanta (Shanghai) Company Ltd. will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Scientific-Atlanta China, Inc. The company will continue to use the extensive marketplace knowledge acquired during the 12 years of the joint venture's operation as it focuses on research and development of digital technology for the burgeoning China market and extending that technology for applications all across Asia.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of 2006 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Europe Report - Germany and Austria to their offering.

This report covers Germany and Austria, two key and influential European telecom markets. The report looks at trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including VoIP, VoD and IPTV developments in both Germany and Austria.

#1 Deployed IPTV Network Now Being Used by More than Fifty Operators

Coaxsys, leaders in IPTV and multimedia networking, today announced that NTS Communications has begun deploying TVnet as a "critical component" of its IPTV launch. NTS, one of the largest privately held fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) providers in the US, will tap TVnet to increase the speed of its IPTV deployments, which began in 2004.

The long wait will soon be over for Fairfax County residents eager for cable TV competition, thanks to a unanimous Board of Supervisors vote Monday night (Sept. 26) authorizing Verizon to offer its fiber-optic powered FiOS TV Service in the county.

With its 351,000 households, Fairfax County is the largest jurisdiction to date to grant Verizon a cable franchise. Verizon launched Fios TV Sept. 22 in Keller, Texas, unveiling a broad collection of all-digital programming with more than 330 total channels and more on the way. Availability plans for FiOS TV in Fairfax County will be announced soon.

The Massapequa Park Village Board of Trustees Monday night (Sept. 26) voted to provide residents with true choice for their cable television services, awarding a video franchise to Verizon for its Verizon FiOS TV product, to be delivered via the company’s new, fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network.

This Long Island village thus becomes the first community in the state to pave the way for improved competition in the cable television market. The local approval is subject to review by the New York Public Service Commission. Verizon has also obtained video franchises in California, Virginia, Florida and Texas.

Verizon announced a programming- distribution agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. for its popular subscription video-on-demand service, WWE 24/7. Verizon is the first major telecom provider to offer this WWE video content in the United States. Under the agreement, Verizon will carry WWE 24/7 on Verizon FiOS TV in its first market, Keller, Texas, and in future FiOS TV markets. The agreement was signed prior to the commercial launch of FiOS TV on Sept. 22.

Eagle Broadband, Inc. announced that the company has received a $1.6 million order for Eagle's MediaPro IP set-top boxes and Minerva middleware from AllAccess Technologies to power their multi-state rollout of advanced video and entertainment services using Eagle's IPTVComplete video solution.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of 2006 Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Europe Report - Benelux Countries to their offering.

The Benelux countries are Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg, all of which are small countries by European standards, yet leaders in technology use. This report looks at trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including VoIP, VoD and IPTV developments in the Benelux countries.

Lucent Technologies and Juniper Networks, Inc. announced a contract with Dutch telecom operator KPN to deploy the next part of KPN´s Internet Protocol (IP)/Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) core network. When fully implemented, this core multi-service network will enable KPN to support a variety of business and consumer services such as Ethernet VPN (Virtual Private Network) as well as advanced IP services such as IPTV and video streaming.

Eagle Broadband, Inc. announced that it has added advanced, full-featured personal video recorder (PVR) functionality to the company's advanced, MediaPro IP5000 set-top boxes that deliver dual tuner, dual streaming PVR in standard and high-definition formats for the residential IPTV market.