Intellectual Property Law

Verizon Files to Provide FiOS TV Service in NYC

By Cynthia Brumfield

Verizon announced this morning that it has filed for a cable TV franchise in New York City, hoping to become the first single provider to offer multichannel video services throughout the city. Time Warner Cable and Cablevision currently offer TV service throughout some portions of Manhattan and the outer boroughs,with a sprinkling of competitive providers, such as RCN, available in spots throughout the city.

Verizon's highly toutable fiber-based service could cause some serious economic damage for the operators (primarily Time Warner) given how lucrative the densely-packed NYC market is. No wonder, then, that the telco took the somewhat foot-shooting step of suing Time Warner for its anti-Verizon ads.

The franchise application has been submitted to the city and will be reviewed by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee. If all goes well (and that's a big if given the dust that Time Warner and Cablevision can kick up), the applications goes to the state PUC. If all goes well there (again, a big if), Verizon plans to start offering TV service to "hundreds of thousands" by year-end 2008.

The agreement is for twelve years and Verizon has agreed to build out the entire city with its fiber-optic network by midyear 2014. Verizon will make service available to at least some portion of all five boroughs within a six-year time frame. The company already offers FiOS Internet service to a good chunk of the five boroughs -- upgrading the network for video will require improvements to existing wire centers.

Full post as published by IP Democracy on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).