Verizon Cable One Step Closer to Reality

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Time Warner’s virtual monopoly on the city’s cable television market ended yesterday, when the New York State Public Service Commission approved Verizon’s citywide cable television franchise.

In April, the Bloomberg administration announced an agreement with Verizon for a new citywide cable television franchise in which, the city would receive 5% of all the new cable fees generated by Verizon. This is the maximum percentage permitted by federal law, and the same rate applied to the city’s other cable franchise agreements, Time Warner and Cablevision.

“Now, for the first time, direct competition will exist among New York City’s cable companies, affording each of the City’s three million households not only a true choice of providers and competitive prices but also a host of benefits associated with the agreement,” the deputy mayor for economic development, Robert Lieber, said in a statement.

Verizon, which is building out the new fiber optic system to reach all of New York City’s estimated 3 million homes, previously said 30% of its new network would be built by the end of 2008, 50% by the end of 2010, and 100% by 2014.

The first consumers to have access to the new service would be residents of Staten Island, who should have access by the end of this year.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use