New Jersey Towns Want Verizon Investigated 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.

quote: South Jersey officials argued that the wireless telephone service Verizon has continued to push for is not sufficient and that unless the telecommunications company vowed to implement its superior fiber-optic network (FiOS), officials prefer to keep their copper systems — which is considered more reliable than wireless broadband. In addition to implying that Verizon all but bought off state lawmakers, they say Verizon has gamed their complaint records to make annoyance by consumers seem smaller than it actually is: quote: "Additionally, we believe that Verizon has manipulated the complaint process so that its customer complaint reports do not represent the true seriousness of the issue ... Verizon has manipulated its customer complaint records to such an extent that underreporting has occurred, and moreover that reported incidents of service problems have not been appropriately maintained or compiled." Verizon's response so far has been to effectively deny the indisputable claim they're backing away from copper networks, and insist that critics are simply 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), 16 municipalities from four counties in South Jersey have filed a petition with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to prevent Verizon from abandoning its copper POTS and DSL customers in the state. As elsewhere, they argue Verizon's plan to offer "good enough" wireless service isn't good enough:In addition to implying that Verizon all but bought off state lawmakers, they say Verizon has gamed their complaint records to make annoyance by consumers seem smaller than it actually is:Verizon's response so far has been to effectively deny the indisputable claim they're backing away from copper networks, and insist that critics are simply afraid of the future . The problem is, as we've noted so many times, Verizon's version of the future involves hanging up on millions of customers, refusing to upgrade to fiber, then telling those users that pricey and capped wireless service (they may not even be able to get) is good enough.







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Most recommended from 20 comments



karlmarx

join:2006-09-18

Moscow, ID 13 recommendations karlmarx Member It's all about the profit Complain all you want. Fine as much as you can. Trust me, Verizon has actuaries who run the numbers for EVERYTHING they do. If the actuary says 'you will make X profit by lying, vs X/2 profits by not lying', Verizon WILL lie.. every...single...time. The problem is quite simple. The penalties for lying are FAR too small vs the profit they make. There is only ONE WAY to make a megacorp follow through on it's promises, and that is to make the FINES FAR HIGHER than the cost of non-compliance. Back in 1993 (that's almost 25 years ago), Verizon got appx 4 Billion in 'tax breaks' and subsidies. The solution is quite simple. Take the cost of the subsidies in todays dollars (about 15 Billion), and quadruple it (willful disregard). Ergo, Verizon should be paying New Jersey (and PA too), about 60 BILLION dollars today. Trust me, if the actuaries told verizon back in 1993 that they would have a 60 billion dollar bill, Verizon most certainly would have lived up to their promises. Today, a fine of a billion would be LESS than a slap on the wrist. Make the FINE SO LARGE for lying, the corporations will not really have any choice to finish what they promise. Otherwise, this type of corporate malfeasance will just continue on forever.

Zenit

The system is the solution

Premium Member

join:2012-05-07

Purcellville, VA 12 recommendations Zenit Premium Member Mass Investigation. Lets go!









VZ has neglected its copper network - it is a fact. Lots of it continues to function, but for how long? The limited maintenance budget is really beating up the last mile to the point of no return.



Unfortunately any investigations will have token effects - VZ at worst will pay some little fine and the politicians will go on their way. Disgusting. Mikeindc

join:2013-02-04

Washington, DC 10 recommendations Mikeindc Member This needs to be done for all cable companies nationwide Cable companies were given monopolies on the condition that they provide service to everyone. They have cherry picked the type of service that they provide. Verizon has not maintained their copper system to the extend that it is frequently unable to provide adequate DSL service, but do not provide FIOS.Comcast requires cable tv to get internet. There is no competition in the cable/tv isp market in the US and it is holding this country back.

tim_k

Buttons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, Kasey

Premium Member

join:2002-02-02

Stewartstown, PA 6 recommendations tim_k Premium Member duh! quote: ....and insist that critics are simply afraid of the future. Yes, afraid of a future with substandard, high priced service with low caps. Someone should be going after the bought off politicians or investigate any possible bribery. Yes, afraid of a future with substandard, high priced service with low caps. Someone should be going after the bought off politicians or investigate any possible bribery.

TIGERON

join:2008-03-11

Boston, MA 6 recommendations TIGERON Member again.... Verizon wants to completely exit wireline by the end of the decade. all of New Jersey and the rest of the areas Verizon currently serves with wireline are going to be sold off to CenturyLink and Frontier. Better get used to it. Technicholas

Premium Member

join:2010-11-11

Winterset, IA 4 recommendations Technicholas Premium Member Companies getting too large to maintain I live in Iowa.... There are a few mom and pop telephone shops around here... those networks are solid and well maintained... When you get to the big telephone companies I don't think they maintain their copper network like others. I was watching news feeds today where places had Windstorms and Comcast was working hard and had more crews going they asked the major telephone company in that area they said they are working and has not called more crews in.



I think these companies are getting too large to maintain the copper network and I don't see ISP's dumping more money in the copper network nobody knows what's going to happen in the next 5 years.

YukonHawk

join:2001-01-07

Patterson, NY 3 recommendations YukonHawk Member Geeezus...... Verizon is becoming as bad as Comcast with all the bad press lately about this topic. Two peas in a pod I guess!!