The Reilly family of Ross was pleased to learn last fall that the township had signed an agreement to enable Verizon to offer FiOS TV/Internet service to the community.

"I thought this would be great to have some new competition to Comcast and DirecTV," said Lorraine Reilly, an information technology consultant. Verizon supplies the family's local and long-distance phone service, three cell phones, DSL and DirecTV service.

Since December, Mrs. Reilly said she has called or e-mailed Verizon at least once a month to sign up for the new fiber- optic service. But customer service representatives keep telling her FiOS isn't available in her area.

When she asked when it would be, the reps said they didn't know. When she asked to speak to someone who should know, she said she was told no one knew the answer to her question.

"All they can tell me is that when and if it becomes available, I will be contacted by mail, phone or e-mail," she said.

"I find it hard to believe that there is no one at Verizon who schedules the work for the cables to be installed in my area. I have asked for supervisors and managers and am still given the same response:

"No one knows until after the fiber cables are installed."

Mrs. Reilly said one rep agreed that such a response was "pretty stupid." She said the rep told her many people are calling about FiOS service and that the "no one knows" response is the only information they can give to callers. She said the reps told her they have no number or department that they can call or give to a customer to get more info.

She said television and radio commercials and newspaper ads "provide details on the latest special promo for FiOS service -- low monthly fees, free extras, etc. -- but I cannot take advantage of them."

One of the commercials aired on TV while we were talking on the phone.

She then provided some information that led to an explanation about her problem.

"This [FiOS] issue is just another issue that occurs when you live in Ross Township and do not have the 15237 ZIP code."

Because her ZIP code is 15214, she receives the Perrysville/Observatory Pennysaver, the weekly shopper, which contains North Side information that "is not relevant to me." She said a Pennysaver employee told her she could have the one designated for Ross if she would stop at its office every week because the publication is sent by bulk mail based on ZIP codes.

Mrs. Reilly said she also doesn't receive a package of money-saving coupons for restaurants, grocery stores and service companies like cleaners, shoe repair, etc. She said she doesn't get one because "the advertisers do not want to send their ads to the 15214 ZIP code.

"There are many other annoying issues that we have learned to live with," she said. "Even my phone number exchange causes misinformation. The 931 exchange is considered West View, but we do not live in West View."

Lee Gierczynski, a Verizon spokesman, said the Reilly family is served by the company's West View center, "an area that hasn't been upgraded yet. Our engineering folks tell me they are looking at upgrading that area, possibly next year."

He said the first phone companies to serve the Pittsburgh area went into business "more than 100 years ago, often before some municipalities came into existence. The companies followed the patterns of growth, such as the Route 19 corridor, and that's why service areas don't follow municipal borders."

He said Verizon has installed FiOS in "about 90 percent of Ross. The franchise agreement we sign with municipalities like Ross outlines the build-out requirements and timelines Verizon would have to follow so she may want to check with her township officials on what those may be."

Mrs. Reilly did. She left messages for Ross Commissioner Gerald O'Brien, who represents the 7th Ward where she lives. I called Mr. O'Brien, too. He didn't return her calls or mine.

Mr. Gierczynski said the popularity of the FiOS service, which Verizon began to offer in 2005, "has exceeded our expectations. It is the largest transformation of our network that we have undertaken in the last 100 years. It now is available to more than 200,000 households in the Pittsburgh area."

He said the new service serves all or part of the following city neighborhoods:

Banksville, Beechview, Bloomfield, Brookline, Carrick, East Hills, East Liberty, Friendship, Garfield, Highland Park, Homewood, Larimer, Lincoln, Morningside, Overbrook, Point Breeze, Regent Square, Stanton Heights and Swisshelm Park.

Mr. Gierczynski advised Mrs. Reilly and others waiting for FiOS to go to www.verizon.com and ask to be notified when the service becomes available in their area. They also can use the Web site to monitor developments.

For Lorraine and Mike Reilly and their two college-aged children, the waiting game will continue. It's a case of being close but not close enough.

The 15237 ZIP code where FiOS is now available is only three blocks from their home.