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FiOS is a fiber to the premises (FTTP) telecommunications service offered in the United States by Verizon. According to Verizon's Trademark (No. 3001081), "Fios" is an Irish word for "knowledge". In mailings to New Jersey customers, however, Verizon states that it stands for "fiber-optic service." Verizon has attracted consumer and media attention in the area of broadband Internet access as the first major U.S. carrier to offer such a service. Verizon has also launched a television service with its fiber optic lines and is expected to become a competitor to local cable television companies over the next 10 years. It will compete with current Triple Play offers, where the local cable company offers broadband Internet access, digital cable (see List of Verizon FiOS channels), and VoIP telephone service. FiOS started as a pilot program in Keller, Texas, but availability of the Internet service has expanded to many states (see Verizon FiOS Availability).