OREANDA-NEWS. September 19, 2014. The Berger Organization’s office tower at 60 Park Place in Newark was built in the early 19th century, but its tenants now have access to 21st century technology: Verizon’s 100 percent, fiber-optic network and the company’s award-winning FiOS services.

By bringing this future-proof network technology to the historic office tower, one of the largest commercial buildings in Newark’s downtown core, Verizon is moving a step closer to bringing its all-fiber network to every neighborhood in the city, transforming it into the state’s largest, 100 percent fiber-optic city.

While the company has been connecting homes in parts of Newark since 2008, the 250,000-square-foot, 21-story office tower is the first large commercial building in the city’s downtown core to have access to the fiber network.

Unlike cable networks, fiber-optic networks use pulses of light to transfer video and data signals all the way to a home or business. Fiber optics is the highest-performing communications technology available and the ability to easily meet the data-intensive needs for decades to come. Verizon offers its FiOS Digital Voice, FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services over the fiber network, giving customers a superior choice for all their communications and entertainment needs.

“I have FiOS at home, and I know how fast and reliable it has been for me,” said Brendan Berger, a vice president of the Berger Organization who manages the company’s Park Place portfolio. “When Verizon approached us about making FiOS available in our building, I was in full support of it.”

Berger said he is now in talks with Verizon to begin wiring other buildings in the company’s portfolio.

Bringing Fiber to Newark Will Create a Technological Foundation for Growth

Newark is one of 70 municipalities in New Jersey where Verizon is committed to building out its fiber-optic network. To date, the company has placed nearly 1.1 million feet of fiber optic cable and network infrastructure under and above the streets of Newark, making FiOS available to nearly 129,000 addresses in the city’s five wards.

As Newark continues to emerge as a high-tech hub, fast and reliable Internet services become a vital tool to attract businesses to the city’s downtown core. When Verizon completes its fiber-optic build later this year, residents and businesses will have access to the company’s revolutionary FiOS services.

FiOS delivers symmetrical broadband speeds as high as 500 megabits per second, giving customers the ability to download a two-hour HD video in just over a minute-and-a-half and upload the average PowerPoint presentation in 40 seconds. Unlike cable’s technology, FiOS is capable of delivering much faster Internet speeds for many years to come.

“We are investing in the city’s future by building our state-of-the art, fiber-optic network to every neighborhood in Newark,” said Sam Delgado, vice president of external affairs for Verizon New Jersey. “Our network will also allow the city to grow its economy by attracting the kinds of high-tech businesses that rely on high-speed Internet service.”

Chip Hallock, the CEO of the Newark Regional Business Partnership, recently moved into a new office at 60 Park Place from another building in Newark that has not yet been wired with FiOS.  Hallock said access to high-speed internet is critical to the NRBP, which offers a range of services to strengthen the region’s business infrastructure and revitalize Newark.