By CLEMENTE LISI
May 28, 2008
City cable-TV competition is finally on the Verizon.
Millions of viewers may soon get more options when selecting a cable provider after a committee yesterday approved a plan to allow Verizon to provide service to households across the city.
The proposal was unanimously passed by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Commission and now needs final authorization from the state Public Service Commission in July.
Verizon said it would start selling its FiOS video service as soon as state regulators approve the deal - breaking the monopolies currently held in various sections of the city by Time Warner and Cablevision.
"If we are successful in the last steps of the approval process, we will deliver on our promise to begin offering FiOS TV in parts of each of the five boroughs later this year," said Monica Azare, Verizon's senior vice president for New York.
Verizon said it does not have the infrastructure in place to hook up every city home until 2014 since the company still has to install thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable above and below ground and in residences.
In February, Consumer Reports named FiOS the best cable service in the country.
