Verizon Wins Calif. FiOS TV Franchise

Scoring a major victory in offering its television services to a broader segment of the population, Verizon disclosed Friday that it had been the first to gain approval for a statewide video franchise in the state of California.

The nation's largest state changed its laws last year, taking the power away from local municipalities and allowing companies to apply to the state's Public Utility Commission to offer services. It went into effect on January 1.

It follows eight states -- Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia -- which already have similar laws. Over a dozen other states are currently considering statewide franchise legislation.

Calling it a huge victory for consumers, Verizon said it plans to announce later this month what communities would be first to benefit from the franchise approval. About 45 new communities in Southern California would gain FiOS TV service.

Verizon had previously built out a fiber-optic network in many of these communities and was already offering fiber-optic based Internet service in many of these locations. However, it had only gained approval for the television service in 18 locales.

"The commission's rapid approval of our application opens up an exciting new dimension in home entertainment for many of our Southern California customers," Verizon's western region president Tim McCallion said.

The top tier FiOS TV package, including 200 channels, would be offered for $42.99 USD per month. Other packages, including Spanish-language centric channels, would also be made available.

Currently, the company counts some 207,000 television subscribers in a potential customer base of 2.4 million. It claims in areas where it competes with other services, rates have dropped as a result.