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Verizon FiOS Launching in Pittsburgh

Phillip Dampier July 7, 2009 Verizon 10 Comments

verizonVerizon has announced a deal with the city of Pittsburgh to begin rolling out FiOS services to city residents by the end of this summer.

This gives the city its first wired competitor to incumbent cable provider Comcast, whose franchise renewal is due at the end of this year.

Verizon FiOS will charge residents $47 per month for 250 standard definition channels plus local high definition channels, and $11 more for several dozen HD channels and more than a dozen sports networks.

Some suburban Pittsburgh customers can already access FiOS broadband products, as the company has wired parts of Banksville, Beechview, Bloomfield, Brookline, Carrick, East Hills, East Liberty, Friendship, Garfield, Highland Park, Homewood, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington, Morningside, Overbrook, Point Breeze, Regent Square, Stanton Heights and Swisshelm Park.  Completing agreements to send video down the network to add a “cable TV” type service is expected to be a relatively simple process, according to Verizon officials.

[flv width=”428″ height=”240″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTAE Pittsburgh FIOS Arrives in Pittsburgh 7-6-09.flv[/flv]

WTAE Pittsburgh Reports on Verizon Agreement with the City of Pittsburgh

City residents can expect to see service available within the next six years, or the company will be subjected to fines by city officials.  But Verizon should have service available far earlier, starting with most of the North Side, some South Hills neighborhoods near suburbs, the business district downtown, and parts of Lawrenceville.

In return for a franchise agreement, Verizon will mimic Comcast’s agreement with the city, handing over 5% of gross revenue.  Verizon has also agreed to install dedicated fiber optic service between some city public safety buildings, $700,000 to upgrade the city’s video equipment, in part for local government proceedings, and 52 cents from each customer will be designated towards providing the viewer with public, educational, and local government channels.  A total of five channels will be reserved: two for government, one for public access, one for educational use, and a fifth reserved for the future.

More video on this story below.

[flv width=”320″ height=”240″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KDKA Pittsburgh – Verizon Pittsburgh FIOS TV 11-08-07.flv[/flv]

KDKA Pittsburgh Introduces Viewers to Verizon FiOS, Available in Limited Areas (November 8, 2007)

[flv width="320" height="240"]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KDKA Pittsburgh - Verizon to Wire Pittsburgh for FIOS 8-07-08.flv[/flv]
KDKA Pittsburgh Reports on Verizon's Initial Efforts to Wire the City Limits with Fiber Optics (August 7, 2008)

[flv width="320" height="240"]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KDKA Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Signs Agreement With Verizon for FIOS 7-6-09.flv[/flv]
KDKA Pittsburgh Reports on City Officials Reaching Tentative Agreement With Verizon to Introduce TV Service to City Residents (July 6, 2009)
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Matthew
Matthew
14 years ago

Living in Bethel Park, a Pittsburgh suburb outside the city limits, I was so happy when I heard this. Living outside the confines of the city, I have had FiOS internet and phone (DirecTV for Sunday Ticket though) for nearly 3 years now (first got it when Adelphia went under). I have heard so many friends complain about Comcast for so long, whether it be for service, quality or the incessant channel changing among tiers(they are doing AGAIN!). It is nice to know that they will have other choices now. If anyone from the Burgh is reading this, go for… Read more »

Matthew
Matthew
14 years ago

My bad, it is 250. For some reason I thought it was 300.

Rob
Rob
14 years ago

If we could only get this in Rochester NY.

Ron Dafoe
Ron Dafoe
14 years ago

I know it is VOIP, but alot of the VOIP services include forwarding to another number if they cannot contact your device. I have vonage and it does that. I forward it to my cellphone.

So at least part of that is fixed at this point.

Uncle Ken
Uncle Ken
14 years ago

I never saw a need for VOIP. I was a beta tester if you can call it that… for $9.95 a month for local calling I thought it was nice given that after NY raised the price of a second copper line with more fees and BS it was worth it but not $39.95 they can keep it. They slipped me a new modem with the ability of VOIP then kept pestering me when I was going to switch. I told them when the price became $9.95 again for local calling. That did not go over so well with them… Read more »

Ron Dafoe
Ron Dafoe
14 years ago
Reply to  Uncle Ken

I pay $24.99 a month for unlimited nationwide calling. That is $15 less than RR and almost $50 less than Frontier.

Seems worth it to me. The cheapest phone bill that I have.

AS for the iphone, it is unlimited data so it may be worth it depending on what you do.

Rick
Rick
14 years ago

My phone costs plummeted about 5 years ago when my office gave me a cellphone with unlimited minutes and I dropped POTS from Frontier. I now rely on my trusty TMobile Blackberry with UMA (universal mobile access) to stay connected. UMA is truly awesome for those of us who travel internationally; anywhere in the world where I have a WI-Fi connection my Blackberry functions as though I was sitting at home without roaming charges. It is also smart enough to automatically switch between cell and UMA service whenever I come into range of a Wi-Fi connection (without dropping the call).

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