After years of struggling to offer TV to California residents, Verizon says it could now be within a “matter of days or weeks.”
The holdup was the bureaucracy that regulates cable TV franchises. Since new TV systems must be approved within each city — unlike new phone companies — Verizon has struck out when petitioning individual communities. So Verizon sought to change the system. Along with AT&T, they petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission to streamline the process by letting the state decide instead of each individual city.
And today, the Commission approved the new rule, as part of the California Digital Infrastructure and Cable Competition Act of 2006. Companies hoping to offer TV service can now apply at the state level and Verizon hopes to be the first.
“We’ll file an application with the commission very soon and they have 44 days to review and approve. After it’s approved, we’ll be offering video in many areas in a matter of days or weeks, especially in areas like Huntington Beach, where the network is already well built out,” Jon Davies, with Verizon, told me.
Woo hoo!
Verizon’s FiOS TV runs on its fiber-optic network, which also serves as Internet service of the 30-megabit range. But while the Internet service has been available in Huntington Beach for about three years, Verizon never got past the TV hurdle.
Older story on FiOS TV here.
Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
Do you have to be in a Verizon telephone service area to get FiOS?
Well, this is good news.
I’m thinking about moving back to Cali, and it would be nice to have FiOS as an option. Though I’d likely be up in the Bay Area again if I do.
As a follow-up to one of your posts a while back, about unlocked GSM phones vs. carrier locked phones. Well, I decided it wasn’t worth the extra cost - I picked up a Treo 680 last week (upgrading from my 650) and I got it from Cingular. I just couldn’t justify paying $400 for an unlocked phone compared to $200 for the locked one.