(8 January 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: "We are the Broadband company."

That is the message that US telecom major Verizon wants to send out to consumers and the industry.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Verizon's new president and COO Denny Strigl said that the company is leading the way in the next revolution of television. "With the strength of our powerful wireless and fiber networks, we have transformed our business into one of the world's greatest content-delivery systems".

To prove the point, Strigl, accompanied by two of Verizon's most senior executives, introduced new products that marry the phone, the Internet and television for consumers in ways not available from any other company.

Verizon has introduced FiOS digital media new interactive programme guide and a platform that offers the company's base of FiOS TV customers a myriad of multimedia applications linking television, the Internet, personal computers and phones. Both will be available in the first half of the year.

At the same time, Verizon Wireless raised the curtain on V Cast Mobile TV which is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007.

Strigl detailed the two-fold strategy behind these products, which crystallises the changing nature of Verizon's consumer business. "At Verizon, we build great networks and we offer great content. We have built the nation's most comprehensive all-digital broadband fiber network that reaches all the way into individual homes, while we offer the most reliable
wireless voice and data network, period."

Verizon FiOS provides homes and businesses in 16 states in the US with up to 50 megabits of Internet speed, and FiOS TV is already available in more than 200 cities in 10 states. Verizon Wireless' broadband network covers more than 200 million people, offering V Cast Video, V Cast Music and BroadbandAccess for high-speed laptop and PDA connectivity.

Strigl adds, "Our parallel networks of fiber and wireless create a delivery system for the high-bandwidth content of today, and will meet consumers' needs for years to come".

Verizon says that its fiber and wireless broadband networks, and their reach, quality and speeds, provide the basis for advancing existing partnerships with technology companies such as Qualcomm. In addition, relationships with leading content providers, appearing on FiOS TV, on Verizon Online and in a variety of mobile platforms to package, format and program TV content, will combine to deliver a suprior overall TV experience says the firm.