Manhattan Residents Vent Concerns to Verizon Over FiOS

Public Forum by BP Gale Brewer, Consumers Union and Common Cause/NY

Related Media

2015-07-23_19.28.41.jpg

NEW YORK, NY (07/25/2015)(readMedia)-- Manhattan Neighborhood Network's studio at El Barrio Community Media Center was packed last Thursday night with residents, community leaders, and business owners who came out to discuss the rollout of Verizon FiOS across the borough. Co-sponsored by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and the Waiting4Fios Coalition, "Verizon FiOS in New York: A Public Forum to Discuss the Verizon FiOS Rollout" allowed participants to describe their considerable frustrations with their inability to access the FiOS product, which was guaranteed to all New Yorkers under a Franchise Agreement signed with New York City in 2008.

An audit by the NYC Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications this past June confirmed what residents and some businesses have experienced, that Verizon has failed to live up to its obligations under its franchise agreement. Under the agreement, a complete fiber optic buildout of the entire city was supposed to have been accomplished by November 2014.

This case has broad implications, not only for the state of telecommunications regulation in New York City and New York State, but for the ability of residents in NYC to equitably access reliable high speed internet service. Such services have become a necessity to full participation in modern society, government, and our economy. Because of this, advocacy groups Consumers Union and Common Cause/NY this week announced the creation of a coalition, Waiting4FiOS, and website www.waiting4fios.nyc to collect stories and launch a petition urging Verizon to complete the buildout of FiOS under the terms of its franchise agreement with NYC.

"If a New York City resident wants FiOS service, they should be able to access it," said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. "I thank Consumers Union and Common Cause/NY for their work on behalf of city residents, and will continue to work toward a full Verizon FiOS buildout that provides access to all New Yorkers."

"Verizon entered into a contract with NYC to provide FiOS for any resident who wants it. Yet, it's been my personal experience that they've put up 'invisible' walls at every turn, cleverly denying installations in neighborhoods or streets where I suspect Verizon estimated that they won't get a huge return on their installation investment. Didn't they realize that single family homes and/or brownstones comprise some of New York neighborhoods?" said Patricia Lakin, Author, Upper West Side Resident.

Manny Rivera, Chairperson, GMHC Consumer Advisory Board, said "Lack of access to Verizon's internet capabilities has had negative impacts on people who are disabled, homebound and who rely on such internet accessibility to access vital information/services. Senior Citizens are another group that relies heavily on such internet capabilities for essential tasks. Thus, there should also be a special carve out of protections for both the Senior and the Disabled populations."

"Consumers Union is deeply troubled by the New York City audit of the Verizon FiOS buildout, which found that Verizon is a long way off from completing its obligations under its 2008 franchise agreement. The audit also indicates that Verizon systematically failed to keep track of complaints from prospective customers who want service. We urge consumers who want FiOS to also record their requests with New York City by calling 311 or submitting an online complaint to the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT)," said Chuck Bell, Programs Director for Consumers Union. "This will actually help accelerate broadband deployment, because the City will be able to monitor customer demands and make sure that Verizon responds to them within a reasonable time frame.

As frustrating as this situation is for consumers, the good news is that New York City is working hard to provide active oversight, and hold Verizon accountable to serve all customers fairly. Building owners are urged to fully cooperate with Verizon in order to give all residential customers a competitive choice of internet and cable providers. Nobody wants to be held hostage by telecommunications monopolies. If customers speak out, we can absolutely improve the choices and services that everyone has.

"Common Cause/NY is dedicated to the principle of universal telecommunications service, and consumers' rights to reliable service extremely seriously. High speed internet is no longer a luxury, but a necessity," said Josh Mumm, Outreach Manager, Common Cause/NY. "Verizon is obligated to provide FiOS to all New York City residents, and its violation of the franchise agreement is unacceptable. Many of our members complained that they have been told their neighborhoods, blocks or buildings simply aren't going to be getting FiOS and that there is nothing they can do about this. We want Verizon to fulfill its promises and obligations to New Yorkers by completing the work they are contractually obligated to perform."

Additional Community Forums in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens will take place in September, see www.waiting4fios.nyc for more details. For more information, contact Josh Mumm at jmumm@commoncause.org.

###