Verizon Communications, which recently won regulatory approval to launch its FiOS TV service in New York City, is now negotiating cable franchises with other eastern U.S. cities, according to the telecom giant’s Chief Operating Officer, Denny Strigl.

Developing a presence in major cities such as Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh would allow Verizon to move beyond its initial goal of making FiOS services available to 18 million homes.

“We think we can take our target [homes passed] up” while maintaining current FiOS economics, Strigl said, referring to urban expansion of the fiber-optic network. “Even within that same time period [by the end of 2010], there may be some upside for us in number of homes passed without significantly changing the capital requirements.”

When asked about Verizon’s plans to extend the FiOS network outside its traditional service footprint, so as to compete with AT&T’s U-verse offering, Strigl said that the company had “no specific plans, strategic plans to build anywhere other than in our franchise footprint,” but went on to say that this isn’t necessarily a “forever strategy.”

“We have enough to do within our franchise footprints where we don’t need to seek out those kinds of opportunities in the near future,” he explained.

Article from : http://www.teleclick.ca