The American Homeownership Initiative, a newly formed nonprofit organization that is launching an innovative program to enable more people to purchase affordable homes, is teaming up with Verizon to give as many of these new homeowners as possible access to Verizon's all-fiber-optic FiOS services.

Under an agreement, Verizon will deploy its fiber-optic network to the single- and multi-family properties that AHI acquires and that are located in areas served by the network.

AHI and Ownermakers LLC, the initiative's co-founder and consulting management company, developed the program to help people who may not meet traditional home-buying requirements -- like large down payments, credit history or annual income -- purchase an apartment or home with a minimal down payment. The program will begin in Philadelphia and will be extended nationally over the next several years.

"Future AHI multi-family apartment residents will enjoy the amazing voice clarity, Internet speed and tremendous reliability that Verizon FiOS provides," said Eric Cevis, vice president of Verizon Enhanced Communities, the Verizon business organization that markets and sells communications services to single- and multiple-home properties. "Our alliance with AHI will help us expand the reach of FiOS to an even broader base of consumers representing diverse socio-economic backgrounds."

The plan to make Verizon FiOS services available at certain AHI properties in the future reflects the competitive advantage Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network offers developers in marketing their properties, said Cevis.

"AHI plans to create 500,000 homeowners by the year 2014," said AHI executive director Bill Stratton. "Once we have acquired a building, we will convert it into a 'smart,' 'green,' and affordable place. We know residents will appreciate our foresight in making available to them 'smart' communications services from Verizon, which will support their immediate and future technology needs."

After acquiring a rental property, AHI will also work with other companies such as Whirlpool and Lowes Home Improvement.

About Verizon FiOS Services

Verizon's ultra-fast FiOS Internet service is now available to customers in parts of 16 states, delivering up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload in six of those states. In Pennsylvania, the maximum FiOS download speed currently offered is 30 Mbps and the maximum upload speed currently offered is 15 Mbps.*

While other communications companies brag about their speeds, they're talking about speed in only one direction. Verizon offers the fastest upload and download speeds available today, and recently Verizon introduced a new, symmetrical Verizon FiOS Internet service for consumers. The service features a download speed of up to 20 Mbps and an equally blistering upload speed of up to 20 Mbps - up to 25 times faster than cable's typical upload speed of about 768 kilobits per second (Kbps).

At 50 Mbps, downloading a 1.2 GB (gigabyte), or 90-minute, standard-definition movie takes approximately 3.2 minutes. Upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps make modern video and file-sharing a snap over the nation's only large-scale fiber-optics network that extends all the way to customers' homes or small- and medium-sized businesses. With a 20 Mbps upstream broadband connection, a user could upload a 250 megabyte (MB) file or a 3,500 page document in about 90 seconds, compared with about 47 minutes over a 768 kilobits per second (kbps) upstream connection.

FiOS TV, a powerful alternative to cable offered in parts of 13 states, is only available in states or towns where a state-issued or local video franchise has been obtained.

Source: money.cnn.com