Verizon Accused of FiOS Redlining in New Jersey Last August you'll recall that New Jersey took a lot of heat for letting Verizon off the hook for a 1993 requirement that provided the company with subsidies and tax cuts -- in exchange for a promise to wire all of the state with 45 Mbps fixed-line broadband by 2010. Like similar Verizon promises to Pennsylvania those deployments never happened, and now Verizon is backing away from DSL markets it refuses to upgrade.

Annoyed by the state's decision to let Verizon's obligations slide (not to mention a latter decision to kill consumer protections at Verizon's behest), around fifty New Jersey municipalities have bonded together to try and hold Verizon's feet to the fire Recently, mayors of several New Jersey cities have been realizing that Verizon has also wiggled out of its 2006 video franchise agreement with the state, which required the telco bring FiOS to New Jersey's 70 densest municipalities, including poor areas in Newark and Jersey City that might not otherwise see coverage. But poorer cities say that Verizon is exploiting a waiver loophole in the franchise agreement that lets the company avoid upgrading a massive number of buildings without trying very hard to gain access: quote: "What we understand the practice to be is that, if you're in a wealthy high-rise next to the water in Jersey City, they will bend over backwards trying to get into that building," says Seth Hahn of the Communication Workers of America union, which has supported the mayors in their efforts to get more cable laid. "But if you live on the other end of the tracks, they'll send you a letter saying, 'We'd like access to your building.’" After a labyrinth of phone calls and offerings, the landlord will often end up on a waiver list without realizing it, Hahn says. In numerous states Verizon has been at least keep maintaining in-use DSL lines, but even then the telco's been neglecting them in the hopes of driving these customers to more expensive wireless service. Verizon's response to all of these concerns? To quote: But Verizon New Jersey spokesman Lee Gierczynski has called this "misplaced fear" resulting from "misinformation and misunderstanding about copper networks, fiber networks and the reliability of those networks." "This is a classic example of how some people fear new technology so they reactively reject it instead of accepting it, no matter how irrational that fear may be," Gierczynski said. He added: "I think people are going to look back and laugh at people ... just like who were a part of the Anti-Digit Dialing League." Except that's not what's happening here at all. While it's true some people fear new technology (and some DSL users have fought being upgraded to FiOS), in this case many of these towns aren't being upgraded at all. They understand that uncapped, fixed-line broadband will be better than capped and notably more expensive wireless data services -- which they may not even be able to get. Meanwhile, the evidence that Verizon hasn't met its FiOS upgrade promises in a growing number of east coast states continues to mount. In numerous states Verizon has been blaming stubborn landlords as it becomes clear they're not meeting original FiOS deployment promises. And indeed, in a very few number of cases landlords refuse access (one or two even tried to charge Verizon for access, according to telco complaints). But poorer cities are now documenting how Verizon's abusing the waiver concept to effectively redline lower-income areas.Many of these areas want Verizon tokeep maintaining in-use DSL lines, but even then the telco's been neglecting them in the hopes of driving these customers to more expensive wireless service. Verizon's response to all of these concerns? To recently insult these users Except that's not what's happening here at all. While it's true some people fear new technology (and some DSL users have fought being upgraded to FiOS), in this case many of these towns aren't being upgraded at all. They understand that uncapped, fixed-line broadband will be better than capped and notably more expensive wireless data services -- which they may not even be able to get. Meanwhile, the evidence that Verizon hasn't met its FiOS upgrade promises in a growing number of east coast states continues to mount.







News Jump Charter Relaunches Free 60-day Internet And Wi-Fi Offer; NCTA: FCC Should Stick With 25/3 Speed Threshold; + more news Comcast Shuts Off Internet for Subs Who Were Sold Service Illegally; AT&T, Verizon Team To Stop T-Mobile 5G; + more news California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news 5G Doesn't Live Up To Hype, AT&T's 5G Slower Than Its 4G; Cord-Cutting Now In 37% of Broadband Households; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed