By the middle of next year, Verizon customers could be watching over-the-top live channels and on-demand movies through a digital video service. Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam told investors at a conference last week that his company was close to reaching deals with major content providers such as ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, DreamWorks, and AwesomenessTV. Verizon may even use multicasting technology to broadcast live content to smartphones via a single stream of airwaves.

Verizon is envisioning an alternative service to TV that is delivered through cable or even its own FiOS network. Its video content would be streamed through the Internet, and customers would get to pick which channels they would like to receive.

“No one wants to have 300 channels on your wireless device,” McAdam said. “I think everyone understands that it will go to a la carte. The question is what does that transition look like.”

Verizon is also trying to transition to an even larger fiber optic network in the next couple of years. Currently, Verizon FiOS is available in 18 cities, but the company may start expanding again to new markets. Verizon halted expansion in 2010.

McAdam also said that Verizon is open to selling some of its towers and rural wired network assets. “He ruled out converting the company’s fiber assets into a REIT, a tax-free investment structure, which regional carrier Windstream Holdings did this summer,” reports The Wall Street Journal.