The agreement faces political headwinds from Comcast Corp., which has the sole cable TV franchise in Philadelphia and has its headquarters in Center City. Its only current competition is satellite TV services.
Verizon said it would like the franchise agreement approved by City Council this year and has warned that Philadelphia was competing with other cities for the investment.
Verizon will spend the $1 billion on installing the fiber-optic data lines that deliver to homes TV entertainment, high-speed Internet and phone service. The lines replace its copper phone lines. The company says its own crews and contractors will do the fiber-optic installations.
Verizon will make the FiOS service available to one-third of city residents within three years and all residents in seven years, according to the agreement. Among the areas in the first phase are West Philadelphia, Germantown, Chestnut Hill and Southeast Philadelphia.
In a map distributed by Verizon, the Far Northeast would be part of the second phase of the Verizon build-out, or installation plan. "I don't know what the rush is," Councilwoman Joan L. Krajewski said. "I think they ought to rush back to the table and talk about the Northeast." Other areas in the second phase include Mayfair, Roxborough and Eastwick.
A Verizon official said it would not disclose zip-code-level build-out of the new high-speed network because Comcast could then target those neighborhoods with special promotions and multiyear contracts.
Paul Trane, a Verizon consultant who helped negotiate the deal and testified at the public hearing, said Verizon needed to sign as many customers as possible to make the network profitable.
The company would privately disclose the build-out plan to city officials, Trane said, to ensure the firm was not targeting wealthier neighborhoods for the service.
