DEDHAM, Mass. -- Verizon has introduced FiOS TV to consumers in Dedham and Topsfield, making a broad range of programming choices and superior picture quality available to some 12,000 households.

Dedham and Topsfield are among 27 Massachusetts communities where the company's new fiber-optic television service is being offered, delivered over the only all-digital, fiber network that is being made available, on a mass scale, to millions of individual homes and businesses. FiOS TV is also available in Acton, Andover, Belmont, Boxborough, Boxford, Burlington, Hamilton, Hopkinton, Ipswich, Lincoln, Lexington, Lynnfield, Nahant, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham, Swampscott, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Wellesley, Wenham, West Newbury, Winchester and Woburn. The company also has TV franchises in the Massachusetts communities of Marion, Mattapoisett, Needham and Rochester.

Verizon is currently negotiating with some 30 other communities in Massachusetts to obtain additional franchises. For more information on the Verizon franchise process in the state, visit www.verizon.com/ma.

Verizon launched FiOS TV in Keller, Texas, in September 2005 and began taking orders in Woburn, Mass., in February. The company also has begun offering the service elsewhere in Texas, as well as in parts of New York, California, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

"FiOS TV gives Dedham and Topsfield consumers an outstanding, superior alternative for their video entertainment," said Donna Cupelo, Verizon region president for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. "Dedham and Topsfield customers who liked what FiOS did for their Internet connection will love what it does for their TV. We've harnessed the speed and capacity of fiber-based broadband with the power of broadcast to create a revolutionary, new entertainment experience."

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)