New Jersey Wants The 45 Mbps Verizon Promised 20 Years Ago Nearly a decade ago you might recall how we discussed Verizon's effort to nab huge tax breaks and other subsidies from several states for agreeing to deploy broadband to the entire state. Pennsylvania was one particular state where Verizon promised to deliver at least symmetrical 45 Mbps broadband to everyone, but managed to wiggle their away out of the agreement over time -- while still of course retaining all of the benefits government offered. Most of these broken promises were forgotten years ago, though a few towns in New Jersey recently noticed that Verizon had promised it to once upon a time to deliver symmetrical, 45 Mbps service to every state resident in exchange for tax breaks and other incentives. They're now stating that Verizon should have to honor that agreement and quote: In 1993, Verizon proposed a plan called “Opportunity New Jersey,” which promised that Verizon would completely wire the state with broadband by the end of 2010. And, Facemyer said, four years past its deadline, Verizon customers throughout New Jersey have already paid about $13 billion in surcharges in return for high-speed broadband. "Verizon is turning (its) back on the commitment it originally made to cover the entire state," Facemyer said. "This includes rural communities like Hopewell Township." Verizon's response to being four years late on their promise? The agreement never mentioned fiber (not that this matters, the agreement agreed to 45 Mbps broadband), and they'll be offering wireless instead: quote: Instead of providing fiber optic broadband, officials say Verizon plans to issue wireless broadband to underserved, less dense areas like Hopewell. According to the Cumberland County freeholder board, the proposed agreement would relegate those underserved households to “less reliable and more expensive technologies." Wireless would provide households and businesses with “DSL-like” speed. In other words, far below fiber optic. Most of these Northeast state agreements were forgotten long ago by lawmakers who were willing to exchange campaign contributions in turn for refusing to hold Verizon's feet to the fire on this issue. Now that Verizon's moving away from DSL in many areas entirely, expensive, capped, LTE will just have to be good enough. It would be fascinating to conduct an audit one day on just how much money was doled out in subsidies and tax breaks to companies for broadband services never delivered. Most of these broken promises were forgotten years ago, though a few towns in New Jersey recently noticed that Verizon had promised it to once upon a time to deliver symmetrical, 45 Mbps service to every state resident in exchange for tax breaks and other incentives. They're now stating that Verizon should have to honor that agreement and deploy FiOS more broadly in the State Verizon's response to being four years late on their promise? The agreement never mentioned fiber (not that this matters, the agreement agreed to 45 Mbps broadband), and they'll be offering wireless instead:Most of these Northeast state agreements were forgotten long ago by lawmakers who were willing to exchange campaign contributions in turn for refusing to hold Verizon's feet to the fire on this issue. Now that Verizon's moving away from DSL in many areas entirely, expensive, capped, LTE will just have to be good enough. It would be fascinating to conduct an audit one day on just how much money was doled out in subsidies and tax breaks to companies for broadband services never delivered.







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