Business

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, September 20, 2007 Verizon gets OK to bundle services By Eric Fetters Herald Writer EVERETT - Verizon will offer packages of telephone, TV, Internet and wireless phone services in Snohomish County beginning Friday, moving the company a step further in its fierce competition with Comcast. While Verizon and Comcast have aggressively courted customers who want high-speed Internet and basic telephone services, Comcast has had the advantage as a longtime cable TV provider. Until now, Verizon had no video services to offer. On Wednesday, however, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission granted Verizon permission to offer those services. "We have worked very hard during the past year to change the regulatory regimen for local telephone companies," said David Valdez, Verizon's senior vice president for public affairs and policy for the Northwest region. "Verizon has been at a distinct disadvantage in bundling services that lightly regulated competitors like cable are able to offer at a moment's notice to meet consumer demand." Now that it has the state's approval, Verizon is wasting no time in offering TV. Starting Friday, customers will be able to mix and match discounted packages for voice, TV, Internet and wireless services from Verizon. Cable TV from Verizon, however, is a future endeavor. Instead, Verizon is offering TV from satellite provider DIRECTV. Customers can order a variety of packages, from telephone services and DSL Internet access packaged together for about $60 a month to telephone, DSL, TV and Verizon Wireless service bundled together for $140 a month. The latter option of "quadruple play" services is aimed squarely at appealing to those who might consider Comcast's "triple play" package of TV, telephone and Internet access, which starts at $99 a month. Verizon was at a gaping disadvantage a few years ago as increasing numbers of people canceled their basic landline telephone service and chose cable Internet access from Comcast over the slower, but cheaper, DSL. Comcast later added digital phone service to its offerings, cutting into Verizon's traditional dominance there. But the competitive landscape has changed, with Verizon now able to offer TV as well as its heavy investment into an all fiber-optic network that has the potential to offer faster Internet speeds than cable. The fiber service, called FiOS, is available in parts of Mill Creek, Bothell, Brier and southeast Everett. It's being expanded now into north Everett, Lynnwood, Edmonds and areas of north King County. By the end of this year, the company expects the new network to be available to more than 137,000 homes and businesses in the Puget Sound area. As FiOS expands, Verizon hopes to gain local franchise agreements to offer TV channels over the fiber network, said spokesman Kevin Laverty. That already has happened in other parts of the country, and FiOS TV is expected to launch in Verizon's markets around Oregon in the coming months. For its part, Comcast says it's focused on its own business, which has also been expanding in the area. Like Verizon, Comcast has spent millions in recent years on its facilities here and recently moved its regional headquarters from Bothell to a new customer service center in Lynnwood. "Our core mission to be the video, voice and data provider of choice for our Washington customers remains the same no matter whether we are competing against a huge telephone company, a satellite provider or the latest Internet startup," said Comcast regional spokesman Steve Kipp. Valdez said no matter which company ends up benefiting most from the growing competition created by the blurring of lines between the cable TV and telephone providers, the new offerings mean more choices for customers. "The consumer is better off today than they were two years ago, five years ago, even just last year," he said. Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.

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