The Village of Mineola Mayor and Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. at village hall, 155 Washington Avenue, to consider a cable franchise agreement with Verizon.

Currently, Cablevision is the sole provider of cable television in the Village of Mineola and many parts of Long Island. However, Verizon is making a push to enter the ring and give Cablevision some competition.

Verizon has developed a system to bring television into homes via a fiber optic network. The company will offer the popular cable television channels such as ESPN, HBO, TBS, FX, USA Network and CNN among others including local channels.

According to Verizon, the services offered and their prices are as follows:

• FiOS TV Local, with access to 15-35 local broadcast, weather and community channels for $12.95 per month. The service is digital with a set-top box, which also provides access to on-demand programming. FiOS TV Local is also available as an analog service that does not require a set-top box for viewing.

• FiOS TV Premier, which delivers more than 180 video and music channels for $39.95 as a stand-alone service or $34.95 a month with Verizon FiOS Internet Service or a qualifying voice plan. This tier includes access to on-demand content and requires a set-top box. High-definition channels are included in this tier at no extra charge, and customers must have an HD set-top box and an HD-ready TV to view them.

• La Conexión, an alternative to FiOS TV Premier service designed for bilingual consumers who enjoy both English and Spanish language programming, for $27.95 per month with Verizon FiOS Internet Service or a qualifying voice plan. La Conexión is also available as a stand-alone service for $32.95 per month. The package includes nearly 140 channels with English and Spanish-language programming and access to on-demand programming. This service requires a set-top box. High-definition channels are included in this tier at no extra charge, and customers must have an HD set-top box and an HD-ready TV to view them.

Some municipalities have come to a franchise agreement to offer the television service. On April 4, the Hempstead Town Board voted unanimously to grant Verizon a franchise to provide television to the town's unincoporated areas. In May, the Town of Oyster Bay approved a franchise agreement for their unincorporated areas and in September 2005, the Village of Massapequa Park approved a franchise agreement for the service, which was rolled out in that village in January, making it the first community in the state to have the service.

"It's an alternative to cable systems on Long Island. People have been locked into those cable systems and unfortunately, prices for those systems have increased [dramatically]," said John Bonomo of Verizon.

According to Bonomo, in Massapequa Park, since the service began being offered in January, Verizon has a 6.5 percent penetration rate, meaning the service has found its way to 6.5 percent of the households in the village.

Cablevision and Verizon figure to be chief competitors since both companies can offer a television, Internet and phone service.