According to Kushnick, the state has given Verizon an opportunity to "erase the law." He said the roots of the Verizon issue stem from 1991. At that time, Verizon New Jersey said it would transform the state into the first completely wired with fiber optic cable in a plan known as Opportunity New Jersey. Customers paid Verizon about $15 billion dollars in excess phone charges and tax breaks to perform the construction over two decades - in addition to rate increases along the way.