Verizon said today that it would hold a news conference on Monday to provide details on the launch of its FiOS service in Philadelphia.
Earlier this year, Philadelphia’s city council and Mayor Michael Nutter signed off on granting Verizon a 15-year franchise agreement in the same city where Comcast is headquartered.
While Verizon hasn’t confirmed the figure, the cost of the Philadelphia build-out has been reported in various media outlets as $800 million to $1 billion.
Verizon has said it will have the service deployed in some areas before the end of the year. As part of the franchise agreement, Verizon said it would make FiOS TV available throughout the city over the next seven years.
Verizon started working on the franchise agreement in June, but some council members expressed concern over which neighborhoods would receive the service first. In response to the city council members’ concern, Verizon came up with a detailed plan that would roll out FiOS in neighborhoods across all of the city council districts.
In the past, Comcast has expressed its trepidation that Verizon would “cherry pick” the more affluent neighborhoods for its FiOS services, while ignoring lower-income areas.