Cable competition comes to county

Baltimore County and Verizon Communications officials have reached an agreement, providing competition they hope will improve cable products and services for residents, possibly within two months.

Upon County Council approval, the contract requires the company to begin rolling out services in the first of three phases within 12 months, beginning in the county?s western region. It remains unclear which communities Verizon will reach first, but the agreement requires Verizon to cover all areas currently served by the now-dominant Comcast Corp., said Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who negotiated on behalf the county.