NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City residents may soon get a choice of cable television providers.
The city announced Tuesday that it has reached agreement with Verizon for a cable television franchise contract, which calls for increased channel capacity and funding for all public, educational and governmental channels.
``Our administration is committed to bringing better service and competitive choices for cable television to the residents of New York City, and the proposed agreement would go a long way toward doing that,'' Deputy Mayor Robert C. Lieber said.
Most city households now have only one cable provider: Time Warner, which covers Manhattan, Queens, western Brooklyn and Staten Island; or Cablevision, which serves the Bronx and eastern Brooklyn. Verizon would offer cable service in all five boroughs.
The agreement must be approved by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee, which scheduled a public hearing for May 20.
Verizon's advanced fiber cable network, which also will provide greater download speeds, would reach 30 percent of households by 2008, 50 percent by 2010 and all households by 2014.
Under the agreement, Verizon would pay the city a franchise fee of 5 percent of the revenues from the cable service in the city; provide a $10 million capital grant to the city-owned NYC TV and a $4 million grant to expand public access to technology.
The city's 10-year contracts with Time Warner and Cablevision expire this year. The city said the renewal process for both contracts, including public hearings, is under way.
On the Net: www.nyc.gov/html/doitt/
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