The Arlington County Board approved an agreement Tuesday night that will allow Verizon Virginia to offer cable services to residents in the area.
The board approved the plan just two weeks before July 1, the day a new Virginia law known as the Cable Competition Act would take effect that would have given Verizon the option not to provide cable service to the entire county, said Robert Billingsley, Arlington’s cable administrator. Billingsley said that under the deal approved by the board last night, Verizon is expected over the next 10 years to make its cable, Internet and phone services — known in the telecommunications industry as the triple play — available to every resident of the county.
“The triple play is the holy grail of telecommunication companies,” he said.
The decision opens up that market in which Comcast is the dominant cable and Internet provider. Satellite services like Dish Network and Direct TV, as well as RCN, are also available.
Billingsley said residents in neighborhoods where Verizon has already laid fiber-optic cable capable of delivering their services would be able to sign up by the end of the month. Verizon must then extend services to the southern part of the county in the next three years, and cover the entire county within the next decade. Arlington had been negotiating the deal with Verizon over the past 19 months. If the two sides were not able to come to an agreement by July 1, under the newly enacted state law, Verizon could have taken steps after 45days to provide service to only portions of the county.
Verizon spokeswoman Christy Reap said the company was excited to give Arlington residents another cable option. Verizon “offers a true competitive choice for video service, and we look forward to making it available in Arlington.”
Comcast spokeswoman Lisa Altman said the competition was welcome.
