Ipswich has become the 12th town in Massachusetts to grant Verizon Communications Inc. a television franchise using the company's fiber-optic lines.

Verizon, in a bid to lure customers from cable providers Comcast Corp. and RCN Corp., is negotiating with 50 other Massachusetts towns for franchises. It currently offers television service in Burlington, Lynnfield, North Reading, Reading, Winchester and Woburn, and has gotten the green light in Hamilton, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Wakefield and Wenham.

The agreements give Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News) potential access to 90,000 households in the state. Besides television, the service includes telephone and Internet access.

Published July 26, 2006 by the Boston Business Journal

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