Rich Fiscus
28 May 2008 2:25
New York City residents may soon have a new alternative to their current cable television provider. That's because the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee has approved a cable franchising agreement with Verizon to provide their FiOS television service as a competitor to the incumbent Time Warner Cable. Assuming the deal is approved by the mayor's office and New York State Public Service Commission, Verizon plans to have complete coverage for the 5 boroughs that make up the city.
"When our proposal is fully approved, New York will be the first major city in the nation to break the cable TV monopoly and bring the network of the future to its residents today," Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut, said in a statement.
Currently only about 20% of the city's residents have access to Verizon's fiber optic network, which has so far only been used for high speed internet connections. These people should have the company's television service available nearly immediately after the franchise agreement is approved by the various parties. From that point on the company will have 8 years, until June 30, 2004, to make the service available to the entire populations of Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.
“The logistical hurdles are unlike any other city in America,” said Craig Moffett, a telecommunications analyst at brokerage firm Sanford A. Bernstein & Company. “In urban situations, every building is its own engineering problem, so it takes another layer of planning and expense.”