Verizon Copper Takes Fire in Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Critics of Verizon copper pressed the telco to resolve network issues at two state commissions. In Pennsylvania, Communications Workers of America filed testimony and photographic evidence Thursday that CWA said showed deterioration of the copper network. In New Jersey, the Division of Rate Counsel urged the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to act on “systemic” problems with the Verizon network. A state senator told the board to require Fios across South Jersey.
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The telco allowed its copper network to deteriorate, resulting in outages and unsafe conditions for union workers and the public, said CWA Local 13000 President James Gardler in testimony to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission. “We see this every day with old poles that are not removed, sagging cables, wires that are not insulated or protected from lightning, cabinets and splice boxes that are broken in which animals and insects are nesting, batteries that are corroded and leaking, and so much more.” Verizon doesn’t give technicians enough time or material to do work properly and has been reducing staff numbers without replacing them, he said. Gardler urged the PUC to require the company to, among other things, hire more field technicians, restoring the number in 2010; increase its copper maintenance budget in non-Fios areas; and expand Fios into unserved areas, particularly smaller urban and suburban areas, he said. The PUC should conduct a “thorough audit” of the company’s maintenance and repair practices in non-Fios areas, he said.
The union submitted testimony from a consultant, Susan Baldwin, condemning Verizon service quality over copper lines. “The persistence of high trouble report rates, high repeat trouble report rates and extraordinarily slow repair times in many Pennsylvania communities suggests that Verizon is not investing sufficient resources in the maintenance and repair of its network,” she testified. “Verizon’s apparent neglect of its copper network jeopardizes the safety and adequacy of the public switched telecommunications network, and underscores the importance of regulatory oversight and remedies.” Verizon didn’t comment.
The New Jersey BPU is mulling a Sept. 19 filing in which the company committed to improving service in the southern part of the state, a board spokeswoman said Thursday. The board awaits responses from the Division of Rate Counsel and the 17 municipalities that petitioned the board for a Verizon investigation, she said. The board held a field hearing in August (see 1608050043).
Rate Counsel Stefanie Brand plans to again ask for a full investigation when she files her response Friday, she said in an interview. The Verizon filing addresses specific complaints from individual petitioners, and “there’s some good things that they’re doing,” but a state probe is still necessary to address “pretty systemic problems,” she said. The board should ensure individual and systemic issues are addressed, she said. “Prior efforts to get it resolved just by hoping the company will do what it needs to do didn’t work, so I would like to see the regulator involved.”
Tuesday, N.J. State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D) urged the BPU to require Verizon to invest in Fios across all of South Jersey. In a news release, he praised the Verizon commitments to improve service as “a positive step,” but said more must be done. "I want to be clear that this is important progress, but it is not enough to ensure appropriate service for our residents,” Van Drew said. “Families in South Jersey deserve access to the 21st Century technology that is afforded to people across the state.”
Brand “would have no problem” with the carrier rolling out more Fios as Van Drew asked, but “the more immediate issue at least in terms of what the statutes require is that these people have access to adequate telephone service,” she said. Copper doesn’t have to be the solution, she said. If Verizon said it doesn’t want to fix the copper system, but will instead migrate customers to fiber to address the issue, “I’d certainly be willing to talk about that.”
“The service issues raised by some of our customers in Southern New Jersey have been and will continue to be a very high priority for Verizon because we are committed to providing quality reliable service to our customers every day,” Verizon said in the Sept. 19 filing. Verizon reviewed South Jersey operations and found three “areas of opportunity,” it said: “(1) additional fiber investment under the [Bona Fide Retail Request] program; (2) relieving congestion of the DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) network in several towns; and (3) additional improvements to the copper infrastructure, including repair and replacement of low performing copper cables and elimination of all identified open plant conditions.”