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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

FIOS SPREADING IN NYC


Neighbor Steve LeVine writes
Many of you have wondered (either silently or aloud) when FiOS will be available in our humble little area.

I just saw an interesting article about a Verizon FiOS pole sprouting up in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill. http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/fios-pole-installed-cable-and-internet-service-coming-soon/

Although it is not specific about our area or dates, here is a very interesting part that I did not know and suspect almost nobody is aware of:
"By installing the poles Verizon is fulfilling the franchise agreement that state regulators approved in 2008, he said, which mandates the company to offer FiOS to every New York City household by 2014."
The very short article is worth the read.
The geographic extent of this agreement is a first. As pointed out in the "Cable Franchise Agreement by and between The City of New York and Verizon New York Inc.," "no cable franchisee has ever agreed to provide Cable Service throughout the entire territorial boundaries of the Franchise Area."

The agreement is in effect for twelve years from the Effective Date or until June 30, 2020, whichever is later. At that time, Verizon can apply for renewal of its franchise.

The city requires Verizon to provide a certain number of Public Access Channels and Government/Educational Access Channels in its Basic Service Tier.

Consumer Protection Standards are spelled out in Appendix A (pages A-1 through A-31).