Verizon Communications is not waiting for the February 2009 federal deadline to complete its transition to all digital programming. The carrier will begin tuning out local analog channels on its FiOS TV service in New York on April 21, with other markets to follow. The FiOS offering counts a small amount of customers who have an analog-only version of the service, and others who may not have digital set-top boxes for some TVs on which they view analog programming. Verizon will offer analog-only customers a free digital adapter. Others will have to lease a digital box or set-top adapter.
The move may not have so much of a direct competitive effect, but Verizon's early transition allows it to get the Federal Communications Commission's temporary waiver on set-top boxes with embedded security functions.
For more:
- see this coverage at Multichannel News
Related article:
- Verizon recently said it had passed the 1 million subscribers mark for FiOS