The District and Verizon have struck a deal to bring its cable television service to D.C., heralding the first major competition for Washington’s dominant cable provider, Comcast.
Nearly a year of negotiations between the D.C. Office of Cable Television and Verizon recently concluded with a proposed video franchise agreement, a compact establishing the District’s first new cable provider in three years. Verizon’s FiOS, the company’s fiber optic network that links voice, cable and Internet service over a single wire, could be available to some D.C. customers by early 2009.
“We have an agreement in principle,” said Eric Richardson, OCT director.
The deal must still undergo a legal review by the Office of the Attorney General and be approved by the D.C. Council, a process that could last through December, according to the District’s timeline. Verizon hopes the process moves “expeditiously,” Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell said.
“From our view, this is a very positive step forward in the process that will bring added choice in the District through FiOS TV,” Mitchell added.
D.C. leaders have grown increasingly frustrated as Verizon deploys FiOS in the suburbs while District consumers are left with few choices. Comcast’s first franchise agreement with D.C. was approved in 1985. RCN entered the picture in 2005.
“Right now we only have Comcast and a few smaller players,” said Ward 3 D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, who has oversight of cable television matters.
“It will mean there will be more competition, more choices, maybe better prices.”
A handful of new D.C. residential developments are pre-wired for FiOS. But without an approved cable franchise agreement, Verizon can only offer Internet and voice over those wires.
Deploying FiOS citywide will demand replacing existing copper lines with fiber optic cable, a multiyear endeavor that Mitchell described as a “massive transformational project.” The disruption to residents should be minimal, Cheh said, as the company can run the lines above ground or through manholes.
While Verizon will be its largest competitor, Comcast also competes daily with satellite and Internet companies for customers, Comcast spokeswoman Jaye Linnen said. The company invested $290 million in its regional network in 2007, she said in an e-mail, and “all our voice, video and data products and services are available today throughout the District.”
“It’s not new to us,” she said of the competition. “We compete every day throughout our footprint.”
