On December 2, the District of Columbia Council tentatively approved a franchise agreement with Verizon that would allow the telecommunications giant to offer Internet and TV service to all District residents over the next 10 years. The agreement would make D.C. one of the first urban areas in the country to get access to high-speed FIOS service. Council members should give this deal a thumbs up when it comes up for a final vote on Tuesday.

Verizon initially negotiated a 15-year franchise agreement with the city’s Office of Cable and Television that would have bypassed some D.C. neighborhoods. But the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs, chaired by Council member Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, wisely insisted that the service be available to the entire city within nine years, with a 12-month extension if needed. That prompted Verizon to install FIOS in areas of the city it would no doubt have preferred to bypass. If the Council approves the final agreement, Mayor Adrian Fenty has 10 days to okay it before sending it for a 90-day congressional review. Both the mayor’s office and Congress should exercise due diligence and make sure all the fine print is in the public interest.