Western Pennsylvanians are still at least a year away from choosing their local cable television provider. But with Verizon's announcement today that it is building a local video hub office to deliver programming, the process is under way.

"This is going to profoundly change the cable television market here in Western Pennsylvania," said Verizon Pennsylvania President Bill Petersen.

Mr. Petersen said Verizon is shooting for late 2007 to offer its cable television service, which the company calls FiOS TV.

The company plans to hire hundreds of new employees in the next year to construct, install and sell television service, said James V. O'Rourke, senior vice president of operations.

The date of the television launch is dependent not just on the speed by which Verizon constructs its video hub office and expands its network, but also on the willingness of local municipalities to allow Verizon into their cable markets.

Under state law, Verizon must negotiate franchise agreements with each municipality before beginning cable television service. A bill in the state legislature that would have allowed statewide negotiations never made it out of committee during the last legislative session.

Verizon currently does not have any franchise agreements with Western Pennsylvania municipalities, but will begin that process in earnest now that the television service has been announced.

"It's no secret that the quicker we can get these agreements, the quicker we can get this to market," said Mr. Petersen.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, Verizon has franchise agreements with 94 municipalities and began FiOS TV service in November.

Verizon's FiOS network, which launched in 2005 and now serves 60 markets in seven states, delivers television services over an upgraded direct-to-the-home fiber-optic network.

In Pennsylvania, that upgraded network has been under construction for about two years, and will reach 300,000 households statewide by the end of next year.

At a press conference this morning at the Hilton Downtown, Verizon officials would not name a price for the FiOS TV in Western Pennsylvania. In other markets, however, the company has been charging $42.99 per month for an all-digital service that includes 200 channels and video-on-demand, said Nicola Palmer, vice president of video network services.