Verizon is set to launch a beta version of its newest mobile video service: Go90.
The broadband and telecommunications company, the largest in the United States, will release the program later this week for select customers and subscribers. Go90 allows users to flip their mobile device horizontally and watch video content, television programs and live streams.
The release of the service has been regarded as an attempt by Verizon to capitalize on the growing mobile-oriented video streaming market.
"Pretty much without exception telecom operators have not been successful as third parties in exploiting the Internet access service, whether it's video or anything else," industry consultant Tim Farrar told CNBC.
"What percentage of people's app viewing is going to be over a Verizon app versus YouTube or Facebook...That's the biggest uncertainty."
Verizon purchased the Go90 service from AOL last June.
The telecommunications giant has also made headlines for its FiOS program.
Several New York City government officials are weighing diverse options set at penalizing Verizon for not meeting obligations related to FiOS buildout, one of which include a possible lawsuit.
"We want them to make it available to everyone in every ZIP code and on every block so that everyone can get online, to do research, to do their homework," Mayor Bill de Blasio's chief lawyer Maya Wiley recently wrote in a New York Times article.
"We need our residents to get online."
The American broadband and telecommunications company, however, is planning on working alongside city officials to avoid a lawsuit and correct issues concerning FiOS connectivity across the metropolitan area. In recent years, Verizon has taken heat from city officials for delaying projects such as optimizing fiber-optic service for television and improving mobile phone reception in certain areas.
Earlier this month, Verizon officials announced plans to simplify its smartphone package deals, which will begin with offering customers a fixed cost for unlimited talk, text and data usage.
The company will also eliminate subsidies and service contracts, MacWorld reports. Verizon users will pay $20 monthly per each smartphone line to the aforementioned features included in the package deal.
The traditional "family plan" package has been eliminated.
