WHEREAS, Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc. operates Verizon FiOS, a service that offers Internet access, telephone, and cable television over a fiber optic communications network; and
WHEREAS, In February 2009, City Council approved of the City's proposed entry into a franchise agreement with Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc. to operate and maintain a cable television service (as defined in the federal Communications Act of 1934) through its cable television system in and along the public rights-of-way and streets of the City; and
WHEREAS, Verizon's resulting fifteen-year agreement with the City requires the company to make cable television service available to households throughout the franchise area within seven years of the effective date in accordance with the deployment schedule in the franchise agreement; and
WHEREAS, Timely installation of FiOS fiber optic communications wiring
is an integral part of the City's long-term strategy to increase City-wide access to affordable utility services because, as the Knight Foundation reports, nearly half of Philadelphia's 1.5 million residents lack affordable access to broadband Internet; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,
That the Committee on Public Property is
hereby authorized to hold public hearings to review the status of the City's franchise agreement with Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc., particularly on the company's progress in making cable television service available across the City.
End
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