Verizon gets statewide video franchise in Texas

Verizon today announced that the Public Utility Commission of Texas has approved its application to provide video service in 21 communities across the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The application means the company will not have to go in front of individual franchising authorities for permission to offer its FiOS TV service.

The company had been fighting hard to get rights to a statewide franchising process, arguing that being forced to receive permission from local franchising boards would delay competition by up to 18 months. The company announced the launch of FiOS TV product in Keller last month.

The franchises approved today include the following communities: Allen, Carrollton, Colleyville, Coppell, Denton, Double Oak, Flower Mound, Fort Worth, Garland, Grapevine, Hebron, Highland Village, Irving, Lewisville, Lucas, Murphy, Parker, Plano, Rowlett, Southlake and St. Paul. The company previously had secured franchises in Keller, Sachse, Westlake and Wylie.

The company is rolling out the video service over its FTTP network, which will reach 400,000 North Texas residences by the end of the year.

“The state-issued video franchise will allow more Texans to reap the benefits of Verizon’s all-fiber TV service, FiOS TV, and change forever the way people watch TV,” Verizon Southwest Region President Steve Banta said in a prepared statement. “Consumer response to our ultra-fast Verizon FiOS Internet Service, which delivers superior quality, speed and reliability, continues to grow. We will now work to add to our winning combination by bringing FiOS TV to more customers as quickly as possible.”

The state-issued franchise comes only after Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill into law that permitted statewide franchises. SBC, which previously had been insisting that because it planned to transmit its video over IP it didn’t need a franchise, also backed the bill and has applied for similar permission.

Shortly after the bill was passed, The Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court challenging the law, claiming it will divide communities into "haves" and "have nots" of advanced technologies for the home.