A lot of things have changed since then, but one that hasn’t is our commitment to making information about Verizon as convenient to get as possible.  Whether it’s more FiOS TV channels, the latest, coolest wireless gear or expanded enterprise services, we’re making news throughout the week.

To help make it easier for journalists and bloggers to find our news, we’ve recently revamped our online News Center to incorporate more graphics, multimedia and other useful tools.  It’s something that our customers and other members of the public can use too.

The site features breaking news and searchable archives of news releases going back to our predecessor companies.  Anyone can register to receive out latest news releases by e-mail or subscribe to our RSS feed.  Wireless and large-business news are available with a click.

With a couple of clicks of the mouse, visitors can also browse our new video, audio and image library.  No registration is required to look around and sample what’s up there, including a fun video about the latest Interactive Media Guide features, but you’ll need to register to download it.

I will continue to talk about Verizon products and services here at Policy Blog, but if you’re following Verizon, you should check out the News Center.  And, if you see something that gives you an idea for improvements, let me know how we can make it better.

With Verizon’s NFL Network Game Extra, fans will be able to watch the game from four camera angles simultaneously or choose their favorite. They’ll also have online access to up-to-the-minute game statistics, drive chart simulations, on-demand video highlights, live chats with other NFL Network Game Extra viewers and live audio feeds.  Customers also can enjoy NFL Network programming online, including segments from the popular shows “NFL Total Access” and “Playbook,” which offer football fans game analysis and a look at upcoming matchups. 

NFL Network Game Extra will be available for eight highly anticipated Thursday night NFL Network games at no extra cost beginning with the Broncos-Browns game tonight (Nov. 6, 2008) and continuing with next week’s Jets-Patriot game (Nov. 13, 2008).

NFL Game Extra is available to customers who subscribe to either Verizon’s FiOS Internet or High Speed Internet service, with either FiOS TV or DIRECTV through Verizon.  When subscribers are away from home, they can also watch the game on any broadband connection.

Customers can log on Verizon broadband accounts at www.verizon.net/nfl for the complete game experience.

At Verizon, our TV system was all-digital from the start although we did simulcast a few channels in analog format so that customers could see these channels without using a set top box.  Earlier this year, at the FCC’s urging, however, Verizon agreed to discontinue those analog simulcast channels before Feb. 17, 2009.  We have now done that.  

However, we did not move analog channels to different tiers of service as part of this process, and FiOS TV customers still receive the same channels, in the same tiers as they always have.  In fact, we provided a digital adapter to any customer who had analog TVs connected to FiOS without a set top box.  These adapters were provided for free as long as that customer remains a Verizon FiOS TV customer at their current location.  This digital adapter not only allows the customer with an older, analog TV to receive the small subset of channels that had been simulcast in analog format in an improved digital format, but also enables those customers to have access to the hundreds of other digital channels available on FiOS TV without adding a full-featured set top box.

So for Verizon customers there was no need to subscribe to a different, more expensive service tier to continue to receive the same channels, and, in fact, using the digital adapter, customers were able to receive more channels, not fewer, on TV sets not equipped with a FiOS set top box.

As we have told news reporters, we are confident the FCC will agree that this was an appropriate way to handle the change and we believe our customers agree as well.

Mark Weigleitner, Verizon senior VP of technology, explains it this way:  “At the simplest level, contact lists, voice messaging, photo files, e-mails and other content or features that currently reside in one place will be universally available, regardless of the equipment you are using or network to which you’re connected.”

At another level, IMS would make it possible for someone to use a handheld device to pinpoint his location from a global positioning system and transmit the information to a friend along with a photo of himself taken by the device.

Before that can become commonplace, engineers need to run equipment and networks through real-world test scenarios.

That’s why 125 engineers, including Mark and his team, worked with 22 equipment manufacturers to test 225 devices and six major test scenarios during the 12 days of the event dubbed GMI (Global Multiservice Interoperability) 2008. It was sponsored by the MultiService Forum, an industry group that promotes system and service compatibility.  Also participating was the Alliance for Telecommunications Solutions (ATIS), a standards organization that has been working on IPTV standards.  Not surprisingly, IPTV services were of particular interest at GMI 2008, where one of the tests looked at validating the automatic configuration of set-top boxes.  

Following GMI 2008, the test results will be published, and the industry will be many steps closer to making IMS a reality.

Available by subscription, NHL Center Ice includes up to 40 out-of-market National Hockey League games per week and select games from the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  If NHL Center Ice broadcasts a game in high definition, FiOS TV will carry it in HD.

NHL Network offers hockey coverage 24 hours a day, including 75 live regular-season games in 2008-2009 – all in HD.

Granted, we’re already a few games into the NHL season, but we’re pleased to bring you the action ahead.  As I’ve said before, TV content negotiations are complex and often take many months to complete. We’re talking to programmers about additional sports content, and we’ll let you know when there’s more we can announce.

Meanwhile, FiOS TV will make hockey fans feel like they’re rink side.  Let me know how you like it.

We’ve talked here often about all the new HD channels we’re adding to Verizon FiOS TV.  But TV is only part of the package.  When a FiOS technician leaves a customer’s home, he or she leaves behind a communications and entertainment system.  Now we’re adding new interactive features that, combined with all the new content, give FiOS a huge edge over old-fashioned cable service. 

Of course, FiOS customers can use their remote control and set top box to connect with TV services, but that same system can also find media stored on personal computers or on the Internet.  The driver is the power of Verizon’s fiber-optic network and the home connections that we set up for customers when we install our FiOS services.

Verizon FiOS TV customers are getting more interactivity in their homes as we roll out the latest version of our Interactive Media Guide (IMG 1.6, for anyone who’s keeping score).  All FiOS TV customers will get IMG 1.6 soon, so if you don’t have it yet, it’s on the way.

Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir is so excited about our newest services that he’s invited journalists and bloggers to his Manhattan apartment to see FiOS in action and he’s taking the show on the road to other cities.

Here are some of the features Shaygan is talking about:

• Streaming of recorded HD video – Verizon’s Home Media DVR now allows customers to stream recorded HD programs to six other TV sets throughout the home equipped with HD set-top boxes.  The streaming feature has been available for standard-definition programming, but now, as customers buy second and third HDTV sets, we’re adding streaming HD.

• New free widgets -- FiOS TV widgets already offer customers one-touch, on-demand access to local weather and traffic reports shown on their TV screens.  Now customers will have more widgets, including daily national news and sports headlines; community news; and daily horoscopes.

• Another new widget, “What’s Hot on FiOS TV,” displays information on the most popular programs being watched at the moment in a customer’s region and the most popular video-on-demand titles currently available.  A predictive “What’s Hot” feature shows programs expected to be among the most popular of those coming up.

• Instant upgrades – Customers can watch VOD programs from HBO, Cinemax and more by using their remote control to subscribe to them from the VOD menu.  No need to call the service center.

You can read about the other new IMG 1.6 features in our press release.  But we’re not stopping here.

Before year-end By early next year, we’ll add two powerful new features to our Media Manager service, which already allows customers to stream music and photos from their PCs to their TVs.  With “My Videos,” customers will now be able to stream their personal videos too.  Customers who subscribe to Media Manager will also be able to remotely program their FiOS TV DVRs and set their parental controls through select Verizon Wireless handsets.

Programming FiOS TV DVRs will be an available feature through Verizon’s FiOS TV Central Web site by year end, 2008.

Longer term, we’re working on a Facebook widget and an application that will let customers stream user-generated video from sites like YouTube to the TV screen.

With these new features, Verizon is giving customers the power of the Verizon network to seek media wherever it is and display it on the TV screen.  With the two-way capacity of our fiber network, we’ll continue to introduce new interactive features that separate 21^st century FiOS TV from 20^th century cable.

Well, CNET took a closer look.  And the winner is ….Verizon FiOS TV.

CNET wrote, “We just finished a major update of our popular chart of HD programming compared and the new winner, in terms of national and local HD channels, by our count, is FiOS TV. Bringing a hefty 83 such channels to bear in the New York City area, the fiber-optic-based TV service from Verizon comes out ahead of perennial satellite champions DirecTV (67 channels) and Dish Network (68) as of today (Sept. 18, 2008).”

In comparing HD providers, CNET excluded regional sports networks, exclusive channels like VOOM and duplicate feeds of premium movie channels such as HBO East and HBO West, which we include in our own channel count since they do provide viewers alternative viewing times and are “channels.”  But we don’t include things like pay-per-view as some others do because pay-per-view is not a channel in the normal sense and is only available when a specific event is being broadcast. We also make a clear distinction between channels as most viewers think of them and the hundreds and hundreds of on-demand HD offers that are available on FiOS TV.

And while CNET focused on the NYC market, the good news is that Verizon is rolling out more HD programming in every FiOS TV market.

Various independent observers have weighed in on FiOS TV’s superior picture quality.  It’s great that CNET focused on our superior programming too.

But there’s good evidence here that consumers feel safer with landline phone service in their homes.

In parts of Texas and the Midwest where Hurricane Ike struck, Verizon’s landline network functioned throughout the storm, and when those who evacuated got back to their homes, our phone service was usually there waiting for them even if commercial power was not yet restored.  Within hours of the hurricane’s passing, Verizon had begun assessing the damage, making repairs and restoring service for thousands of customers.

“I’ll never be without a landline anymore after the events of this week,” said one Midwest hurricane survivor at DSLreports.com.  “Plain old telephone service with a plain old telephone was my only line to the outside for about a day and a half.”

Said another, “I was ‘that guy’ without a landline for almost 10 years, and I used to even argue how pointless they were. It wasn’t until an incident occurred that required dialing 911 did I realize the error of my ways. Now we have a handful of cell phones, one VoIP line for my wife, and of course a trusty landline for the sole purpose of (God forbid) dialing 911 again. The recent storms should only serve to convince people that they need a landline, regardless of how ‘techy’ you are. Things (unfortunately) happen and when you need police/ambulance/fire department you want to pick up the phone and know they will answer.”

Of course, there were some who thought otherwise, but comments track with a nationwide survey commissioned by Verizon that showed a majority of consumers say they feel safer with traditional telephone service in their home.  Ninety-one percent of the respondents felt their landline connection is reliable even in bad weather. 

Times may have changed, but a corded landline phone should be an essential component of anyone’s safety planning when severe weather threatens.

As we've reported, our landline telecommunications network continues to function despite widespread power outages in the region.

Where commercial power is lost, backup generators and batteries are powering many Verizon facilities, ensuring that customers served by those facilities continue to receive phone service. Verizon also is setting up phone banks in key locations in our southeast Texas service area, offering free local and long-distance calling and Internet access to people affected by the hurricane.

Where Ike’s winds downed lines and poles and knocked out service, we’re assessing the damage and have begun restoration. We expect to bring in technicians from other parts of Texas the coming days to expedite the restoration of service for our customers in southeastern Texas. Similarly, we’re restoring service in several Midwestern states after Ike’s heavy rains and strong winds passed through.

We're also aiding disaster-relief efforts with grants and contributions. The Verizon Foundation has awarded a $20,000 grant to the Texas division of the Salvation Army, and another $20,000 grant to the Houston chapter of the American Red Cross. In addition, the foundation is offering a 1-1 match for contributions made by Verizon employees to nonprofit organizations that are providing aid in the areas affected by Ike – including Texas, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

In these and other ways, Verizon is supporting rebuilding efforts and helping people get their lives back in order following this devastating hurricane.

Today, Verizon is holding a press conference in Lynnwood, Wash., to launch FiOS TV in the Puget Sound area.  For the first time, customers in the state of Washington will have a real choice for TV. 

The Washington state launch will be followed very shortly by the introduction of FiOS TV in the Buffalo, N.Y. market.  Buffalo customers will join customers in other parts of the Empire State who are already enjoying FiOS TV’s picture clarity, 100 HD channels and innovative features that cable can’t match.

If our experience in other markets is any guide, we can expect thousands of customers to welcome us by leaving their cable companies for Verizon’s FiOS services.

Before we launched FiOS TV in Keller, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2005, many skeptics questioned whether we could even get the programming we needed to deliver a competitive TV service, and, indeed, whether consumers really wanted an alternative to old-fashioned cable TV.  No one is asking those questions today.

When we reported our quarterly results as of June 30, 2008, we had 1.4 million FiOS TV customers and almost 2 million FiOS Internet customers.  That was before our New York City launch in July and before we added our newest markets this month.  It will be interesting to see how far we’ve come next September, but I have no doubt that September 2009 also will be a busy month for FiOS TV.

Verizon and law enforcement agencies encourage consumers to not attempt to cash the fake $4,500 check and to not provide any personal information to the “claims agent” that the fraudulent letters instruct them to call.

Anyone who receives one of these letters should report it to the United States Postal Inspection Service.

The irony of this statement is that a really good DSL experience is….really good.  Verizon High Speed Internet customers are very likely to have a good experience because they have a dedicated line from our central office to their home.

Cable customers, on the other hand, share their broadband connection with their neighbors, which means they may not get the advertised speeds during peak usage periods.

What that means is when neighbors are online, Verizon DSL won’t slow them down.  When the kids come home from school and jump online, they’ll get consistent speeds.  That can be a problem this fall when students are likely to be online at the same time during the afternoon and evening researching their next school report or watching YouTube.

Verizon has just introduced an offer that allows new Verizon High Speed Internet customers to obtain six free months of service when ordering an annual plan.  To qualify, customers must be new or existing Verizon wireline voice subscribers.

For consumers of our fastest High Speed Internet service -- up to 7.1 Megabits per second (Mbps) -- this new offer represents an annual savings of just under $258. Customers will save nearly $180 per year when ordering our up to 3 Mbps service and $120 when ordering our up to 768 kilobits per second (kbps) speed.

Savings like these are especially important as Americans carefully manage household budgets in this strained economy.  We also help grow our base of broadband Internet customers and nurture continued use of our broadband services in the future.

Consumers who want to maximize their online experience should not underestimate the performance, reliability and value of digital subscriber line service.  A really good DSL experience is, after all, something that cable can’t replicate – it’s really good.

For one thing, this pattern seems to ebb and flow.  During the first quarter of 2008, we surprised analysts with the number of additional customers we reported for our FiOS service and beat many of the cable companies.

I think a couple of things happened.  Perhaps the most significant was that we wrapped up a major promotional push at the end of the first quarter, and that promotion was responsible for a lot of new customers at the beginning of the year.  Looking ahead, we recently launched a new promotion that leverages Verizon FiOS TV’s advanced technology to attract new customers.

But what’s the larger picture?

First, customers like our services, and we do very well in surveys conducted by unbiased third parties.

In February and again in March of this year a national consumer magazine declared FiOS the top service, hands down, with the best rating in all categories based on reader feedback.  Our High Speed Internet Service (DSL) was in the top five or six.

For the second year in a row, Verizon FiOS Internet service was rated the best in PC Magazine's reader survey of the “The Best (and Worst)” ISPs in America.  In reporting this year’s results, the magazine said, “Unsurprisingly, the favored method to connect is fiber-to-the-premises, as embodied by the Verizon FIOS service. The fast fiber hookup received an 8.6 for an overall score – the best rating of all the broadband options.”

Second, FiOS is the clear leader when it comes to speed.  As we explain in this list of new service breakthroughs, Verizon introduced 50 megabits-per-second (Mbps) FiOS Internet service in all 16 states where we’re building our fiber-to-the-home network.  We’ve also boosted our High Speed Internet service speed to 7 Mbps in markets where FiOS is not offered, giving roughly 3.5 million Verizon DSL customers in parts of 20 states download speeds that are more than double our previous top speed.

Third, FiOS customers are more likely to experience the speeds advertised for their service because they share more bandwidth with fewer users.  No more than 32 FiOS users share the downstream data capacity of 622 Mbps from the central office to the home.  CableLabs, which is owned and operated by cable companies, acknowledges that a few hundred users may share a 6 MHz downstream channel, and the 6 MHz channels support approximately 39 Mbps of bandwidth to share among 100 of cable users.  Because more cable customers share less bandwidth, those users will receive their advertised speed far less often than FiOS customers.

In fact, an internal Verizon study shows that the median speed for Cablevision’s 15 Mbps customers is 5.55 Mbps whereas the median speed for FiOS 10 Mbps customers is 10.02 Mbps.  The median speed for FiOS 20 Mbps customers is 19.33 Mbps.

Fourth, customers rate FiOS TV’s picture quality better than cable or satellite in third-party surveys.  This is true for both standard-definition and high-definition broadcasts, but it’s especially important for customers who have invested in HDTVs and want the best HD possible.  We, of course, deliver FiOS TV over our fiber-to-the-home network, which means we have the bandwidth to deliver HD signals without additional compression.  We forward the signal to our customers the way that we receive it.  It’s been reported that some cable companies are compressing their signals and squeezing as many as three channels into one QAM.  Additional compression cuts down on the vividness and sharpness of images, and consumers can see the difference.

Fifth, we’re continuing to introduce new services and bundles that set us apart from cable. For example, beginning this quarter, new FiOS customers will receive broadband home routers that are capable of 100 Mbps speeds inside the home and allow operation of as many as four Wi-Fi channels.  In the area of new bundles, we’ve created the Verizon Flex Double Play bundle that enables customers to subscribe to Verizon Wireless service, add Verizon broadband - and get it all on one bill. FiOS TV service, where available, can also be added to create a triple-play bundle.

These are the kinds of broadband services that our competitors can’t match, which is why we think we’re ready for the competition ahead.

“Verizon has a lot of duplicates in their count.”  Not hardly.  The 100 HD channels offered to FiOS customers in the New York metro area are distinct.  Some providers like HBO offer a number of HD channels targeted at different audiences.  They also offer the East Coast and West Coast feeds of certain channels that provide the same content at different times of the day.  The industry counts these feeds as separate and distinct channels.

“At least 42 of Verizon’s HD channels are premium movies.”  Right.  Content Cablevision doesn’t offer or offers in only premium packages.

“Renting Verizon HD set top boxes costs several more dollars a month than standard Verizon set top boxes.”  Not true again.  Verizon set top boxes for either standard def or high def cost $5.99 for new customers in the NY Metro area.  No extra charge for the HD set top box.

Once again we find Cablevision out there making up facts to fit themselves.  They can do that all day long, but Verizon FiOS still has more HD, more variety, and superior picture and sound quality.

If you include the 400 HD titles currently available through our video-on-demand service, FiOS TV customers in the New York metro area will have more than 500 HD choices at any time.  But we aren’t stopping there.  We’ll continue to expand our HD programming through the end of the year when we plan to have more than 1,000 monthly HD VOD titles plus all available major HD channels.  Shawn Strickland, Verizon VP of video solutions, talks about the NYC launch and HD in the video here.

What does this mean for customers who live outside the New York metro area?  Our year-end goal for HD programming is the same whether you live in Brookyln or Beaverton, Oregon.  We’re launching new content, region by region, in each of our FiOS TV markets.  Many new channels are already available in Indiana and Oregon, and the other markets will get new channels during the next few months.  Our other markets won’t see a one-time infusion of 100 HD channels, as we’re doing in New York, but they will see us add HD content over the remainder of this year.

Late last year we said we planned to reach 150 HD channels by year-end 2008.  We selected that bogey because our network has the capacity to do that or more, and because we projected that this volume of HD content could possibly be available in late 2008.  Admittedly, we started adding HD channels later than we anticipated, but the channel additions are now well underway.  We will have the capacity to offer 150 HD channels, but the ultimate number will depend on what new HD channels are available from programmers in each of the places where we offer FiOS TV.  With five months left in 2008, the New York City launch is a good sign of what’s to come.

Verizon enters the NYC market with 100 high-definition channels – more than Time Warner or Cablevision.  We’re also offering our industry-leading FiOS Internet service and reliable telephone service in a selection of power-packaged bundles, starting at $94.99.  This bundle includes FiOS Internet service with a maximum connection speed of 20 megabits per second downstream and 5 Mbps upstream; Verizon Freedom Essentials telephone service with unlimited local and long-distance calling; and FiOS TV service with 54 free HD channels.  Other bundles are available with an even faster Internet service of 20/20 Mbps plus all standard-definition and high-definition premium channels.

The New York Times has a good story on this in today’s paper.

One of the big challenges of wiring New York City with fiber is to serve the thousands multiple-dwelling units throughout the City.  We’re meeting that challenge through the use of bendable fiber that enables us to snake around curves and tight spaces without loss of the fiber signal.  We’ve already wired some 800 MDUs, and we’re in discussions with other building and property owners to bring FiOS to their properties.

If our pre-sale orders are any indication, FiOS TV has all the signs of being a hit with New Yorkers.  Our advance orders blew past all our projections, and thousands of New Yorkers have already signed up.  We’ll install the first customers on Wednesday, and will let you know how we’re doing in future blogs.

But sometimes cable companies play hardball with HD programming they control.  Take the MSG regional sports network in New York City and the MSG-Buffalo channel that we want to be able to offer to future customers in that market.

Standing in the way is Cablevision, which owns MSG and is preventing competitors like Verizon getting MSG – a channel that is subject to the Cable Act’s program access rules – in HD format.  Under those rules, Cablevision is required to make that programming available to Verizon.  In 2006, after we filed a program access complaint with the FCC, Cablevision agreed to provide the standard definition version of the MSG regional sports network in New York City.  But so far Cablevision is refusing to provide the HD feed for the same programming.

So we’re back at the Federal Communications Commission, which is considering various issues concerning access to video programming. 

It’s pretty obvious that Cablevision is trying to circumvent the FCC’s program access rules by denying Verizon MSG in HD – claiming that just because Cablevision elects to route the HD format over fiber, it is somehow not the same “programming” as the standard definition format delivered using satellites.  And as if Cablevision’s motives in evading the program access were not clear enough, after denying us the HD MSG programming, Cablevision advertises that it is the only carrier to provide it in HD.

Verizon is asking the FCC to condemn these practices and to clarify that, if programming is subject to the FCC’s rules as Cablevision’s MSG channels are, then competitive providers are entitled to that programming in all available formats.  In other words, the cable incumbents should not be permitted to circumvent the rules and deny competitors and consumers the benefits of HD.

FiOS TV customers in Fort Wayne, Ind., are the first to receive the new FiOS TV channel lineup that now includes 15 additional HD channels including Animal Planet, Big Ten Network, Versus/Golf, History Channel, Smithsonian Channel and the Weather Channel.  We’ve also added seven new standard definition channels including RFD TV.  The next series of content additions, which are coming soon to Fort Wayne, will include more HD channels and 16 new multicultural channels.  Today’s press release has a list of the new channels that are now available and those that we’ll add next. Although not announced today, other content we hope to offer includes MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass and NHL Center Ice, among others.

During the next few months, we’ll roll out the new channels to our other regions where FiOS TV is available.  You can look for an announcement about the second market to get the new channels very soon. We will continue expanding the FiOS TV channel lineup this year, with a major focus on HD content, and by year end, Verizon will carry all available major HD programming.

We are excited to bring this additional programming to our FiOS TV customers, and we’re looking forward to making good on our commitment to lead the industry in the scope and quality of our programming.

I was there for the interview that led to the Reuters story, and absolutely nothing Mark Wegleitner said suggested that Verizon has doubts about our fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) approach.  (Anyone who knows Mark knows such a suggestion is extremely unlikely.  As so many are aware, Mark was an early advocate of FTTP, was committed to it from the start, and remains so.)

The discussion was about what Verizon might do to deploy broadband after 2010.  We’ve said many times that we will build our FiOS (FTTP) project past 18 million homes in our traditional service area by the end of that year.  Reporter Ritsuko Ando wanted to know what we’ll do after 2010.

From my notes, Mark’s answer came in two parts.  First Mark noted that certainly we will continue to deploy fiber after 2010.  In a quote that got slightly adjusted in the Reuters story, Mark said, “We’ll still be using FTTP.  There is still gas in the engine for FTTP.” (Not “could be.”) I pointed out that we have committed to build FiOS to every part of New York City in a fiber-building project that will take until 2014.

Second, Mark addressed the challenging issue of deploying broadband to rural areas where population density is very light. Mark noted that DSL is certainly part of the solution and Verizon is continuing to deploy more DSL and increasing the DSL speeds we offer.  However, DSL triple play capabilities are limited and would rely on deploying fiber part of the way, building “nodes” and then using DSL to reach customers from there.  It is a complex and expensive approach, especially when the efficiency of the node is compromised by the low density service area.  (Furthermore, one of the great advantages of the FTTP approach is that we don’t need electronics in the field, and we eliminate expense and failure points.)  That leaves wireless alternatives such as direct broadcast satellites and the new 4G mobile technologies like LTE as perhaps better possibilities.  But as of now, technology combinations such as these and the market for them are both unproven.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of work ahead on the existing FiOS project, so we’ll put our energies there and watch developments in both technology and in markets we have not yet reached.

Hopefully, this puts to rest the Web speculation that Verizon is somehow not committed to bringing fiber all the way to as many customers as we can.

Asked about Verizon’s plans today, Verizon President and COO Denny Strigl, who was speaking at NXTcomm, said this: “We plan to offer broadband using High Speed Internet and FiOS, which we think are the right technologies for our customers in the years ahead. We're rapidly expanding the deployment and increasing the speeds of both.”

Verizon FiOS uses a fiber-optic technology all the way to customers’ locations.  Of course, technology changes rapidly, and Verizon tracks all new developments, as Verizon Senior VP of Technology Mark Wegleitner said yesterday at NXTcomm.  But make no mistake about it, our plan is to deliver broadband by using fiber all the way to customers’ homes and business and our HSI product.

During his keynote speech today at the NXTcomm conference in Las Vegas, Verizon President and COO Denny Strigl set the record straight.

He said that often-cited study that shows the U.S. is 15^th out of 30 countries in broadband ignores key facts.  It doesn’t take into account differences in geography that make comparisons among countries so difficult.  For example, Massachusetts and New Jersey have about the same population density as Japan and Korea – and about the same percentage of broadband penetration.  And it doesn’t count wireless broadband, which is growing about three times faster here than in Europe.

Denny laid out the facts show that show the U.S. leads the world in the metrics that matter most:

·         We have more broadband connections than anyone else, at more than 100 million and counting.  Broadband is available to virtually every ZIP code, every school and library, and every major business.  More than half of all households in this country have some form of broadband service, as compared to fewer than 30 percent in Europe.

·         We also lead the world in choice and competition. More than three-quarters of American households have access to at least two different broadband platforms, and many have six or more choices -- whether it’s FiOS, U-Verse, EVDO, Wi-Fi, DSL, or cable.

·         The gold standard for broadband speed is fiber, which is being deployed faster here in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world.  In fact, Verizon alone has passed twice as many homes with fiber and has more actual fiber customers than exist in all of Europe.

·         We also have one of the most vibrant wireless markets in the world.  U.S. Wireless subscribers use more minutes, pay lower prices, and have greater choice among providers than their international counterparts. 

·         Finally, when you look at which country is farthest down the path in actually putting all this technology to work in the economy, World Economic Forum puts the U.S. in the top ranks of all the economies it studied -- calling our Internet infrastructure one of the world’s best … and getting better fast.  

With facts like these, Denny said, it’s time to put the myth of U.S. broadband inferiority to rest.

As Verizon FiOS Internet customer Bob Cariste of New Jersey puts it, “(FiOS Internet service) is the fastest and the most reliable.  Those are the two things you can judge Internet on.”

Next week, the best gets even better as Verizon expands its industry-leading 50/20 Mbps and 20/20 Mbps FiOS Internet service across the entire FiOS Internet service footprint in 16 states.  These speeds were already available in some FiOS markets in the Northeast and Florida.  Now, new Verizon FiOS customers in 10 additional states can choose 50/20 Mbps and 20/20 Mbps, which replace current offerings of 30/15 Mpbs and 15/15 Mbps services respectively.  They also can choose from new mid- and basic-tier 20/5 and 10/2 services, which replace the former 15/2 and 5/2 plans.  Existing FiOS Internet customers who want to upgrade their speeds can call Verizon for more information on new plans.

The bottom line is that ultra-high-speed broadband from Verizon is available to all 10 million homes and small businesses within reach of Verizon’s fiber-to-the-home network.  By 2010, the FiOS network will reach more than 18 million customers.

Cable is promising speed upgrades when it rolls out DOCSIS 3.0 to limited markets in the future.  Verizon’s 50/20 FiOS Internet connection is here today, and it’s the fastest available to consumers in the United States.

UPDATE (6/23/08): This video is of two customers discussing the 50Mbs FiOS connection:

On the exhibit floor here in Las Vegas you can see that technology in its latest form, but the bigger question is what does it mean for businesses and consumers who will use it?

Verizon's Mark Wegleitner, senior vice president of technology, shared the stage with his counterparts from AT&T and Qwest Tuesday for a wide-ranging discussion of services and technologies. Their panel followed an address by Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T. The most consistent message in all the messaging for the day was that convergence of networks and the cross-breeding of services, applications, networks and customer hardware will lead to faster communications and more convenience for customers. Home networking is a key to making things simple for customers, Mark told the keynote audience, and all this technology will have to be green. Mark noted Verizon’s recent initiative  to assure our suppliers are building gear with an eye on cutting energy consumption.

Everyone spoke of the magic of actual anytime, anywhere, “anytool,” any format messaging with confidence and certainty that it is, officially, "emerging."

Most people don't need to know about the chips and the planning, or even the vision of these technology leaders. But, if anything, the pace of network change is faster than ever, and delivering the power to make customers’ lives easier.

Today, Verizon takes another significant step in its transformation to a broadband communications company as we launch the Verizon Flex Double Play bundle.  It enables customers to subscribe to Verizon Wireless service, add Verizon FiOS Internet service or High Speed Internet service -- and get it all on one bill.  Verizon FiOS TV service, where available, can also be added to create a triple-play bundle.

We think this offer will appeal to younger families and young professionals who rely on their cell phones for voice service.  A recent Harris Interactive poll showed that 89 percent of U.S. adults have a cell phone and, of that number, 14 percent said they use only their cell phones for voice service.  The new bundle also offers value and cost savings at a time when all customers are experiencing steadily rising prices for fuel and groceries.

The addition of the Verizon Flex Double Play bundle is the latest example of Verizon’s marketplace versatility.  It’s what network leadership is all about.

Verizon’s Mark Wegleitner, senior vice president for technology, got things going in an address to the DiversityNXT conferees -- a group of minority and women suppliers gathered here.  Woman and minority-owned businesses account for some $3 billion a year in industry revenues.

Mark walked the group through the evolution of Verizon’s all-fiber-optic network and the services available when the fiber runs straight to a home or business.  He sees fiber like the Verizon FiOS network likely to make possible services like 3D TV or even holographic live professional football games projected on the living room carpet.  (Move the coffee table, eh, Mark?)

This was just one of a number of side-meetings at NXTcomm this year, but an important one, and  Mark encouraged the suppliers to work on new products and services that are easier to use, less costly, easier to install and maintain, more secure and environmentally friendly.

Verizon is counting on all suppliers, including those companies owned by women and minorities, to help us deliver the high-speed Internet and unequalled TV service that consumers expect.

There’s a lot more coming this week, and we’ll try to keep readers here posted on what the Verizon team is up to at NXTcomm.