Verizon TV deal hinges on PSC approval

BY PETE DAVIS

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 8:50 PM EDT

Many Queens TV viewers could soon have a new option for cable TV service. Verizon has entered into a 12-year agreement with the city that could give some households another provider option by this summer.

The deal, which Verizon and the city agreed to on May 27, will offer Verizon as a cable TV option to everyone in the city by 2014. However, the agreement still needs the approval of the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC), which Verizon executives hope could come as soon as July.

Currently, Time Warner and Cablevision are the only cable service providers that offer packages to city residents, with Queens customers limited to Time Warner packages.

“After many years, real choice for TV is closer to reality for New York City residents,” said Monica Azare, Verizon Senior Vice President for New York and Connecticut. “Soon, they will be able to break away from the monopoly of legacy cable TV providers. 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.”

If the PSC approves the deal, 15 percent of Queens homes could be eligible to receive the service by the end of 2008, and that percentage could double by 2009, according to a Verizon spokesperson.

Verizon has already installed fiber optic cabling that allows those in various neighborhoods in northeast and southern Queens to receive high-speed Internet usage, and the TV rollout plan would be unveiled after final PSC approval.

Verizon’s FiOS TV offers a broad range of all-digital programming, high-definition (HD) channels and access to more than 10,000 on-demand titles - 70 percent at no additional charge.

However, not everyone was so quick to praise the agreement or the way the city and Verizon handled the negotiations.

“This $70 billion deal, drawn up behind closed doors, undoubtedly could use a brief timeout for public review,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/New York, a non-partisan, non-profit citizens’ lobby group. “The approval of this agreement is premature. It is a $70 billion bun that needs more time in the oven.”

Meanwhile, City Comptroller William Thompson applauded the agreement and praised Verizon for agreeing to a number of measures in his “Cable Consumer Bill of Rights,” including establishing an additional service center in each borough accessible by mass transit and posting information on its web site concerning an annual cable consumer report card.

“New York City can now be viewed as a national leader in consumer protection,” Thompson said. “These new measures add a level of transparency and accountability that were non-existent in previous agreements and will serve as a blueprint for future negotiations.”

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Christine Cheung wrote on Jul 31, 2008 10:35 PM:

" We were recently ordered by the DOT Depart of Sidewalks that we must repair several sections of our walk but these are the same sections fixed around 8 yrs ago by the MTA as part of a project repairing the bus stop in front of our house.We never ordered those repairs years ago and now the DOT has stated that we must fix the defective sections of the sidewalk,effectively holding us liable for shoddy MTA work.Since we live in front of a bus stop, are we responsible for repairing sections of the sidewalk originally installed by the MTA? "