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[XiaNaphryz]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/09/nyc-threatens-to-sue-verizon-over-fios-shortfalls/

New York City officials yesterday notified Verizon that the company is in default of an agreement to bring fiber connections to all households in the city and could file a lawsuit against the company.

The road to a potential lawsuit has been a long one. In June 2015, New York released an audit that found Verizon failed to meet a commitment to extend FiOS to every household in the five boroughs by June 2014. City officials and Verizon have been trying to resolve the matter since then with no success, as Verizon says that it hasn't actually broken the agreement.

The default letter (full text) sent yesterday by the city Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT) says Verizon has failed to pass all residential buildings in the city with fiber. As of October 2015, there were at least 38,551 addresses where Verizon hadn't fulfilled installation service requests that were more than a year old, the letter said.

"Moreover, Verizon improperly reduced, from $50 million to $15 million, the performance bond required [by] the Agreement on the basis of Verizon's incorrect representations that Verizon had met the prescribed deployment schedule, when in fact it had not," the letter said. City officials demanded that Verizon restore the bond and wants a response within 30 days. The default letter also accuses Verizon of failing to make records related to its provision of cable service available to the city during its audit.

Verizon told Ars today that it "will defend the good work done by our company" if the city chooses to sue. Verizon has made Internet and TV service available to 2.1 million NYC homes, the company said.

“It is unfortunate and disappointing that the City is taking an adversarial approach to the only company that has challenged New York City's cable monopolies," Verizon's statement said. "The City has now chosen not to work with us to resolve impractical processes for getting access to more buildings which seems at odds with bringing the benefits of competition to New Yorkers."

City officials told The Wall Street Journal that the situation hasn't improved much since last year's audit. "The city recently sampled 52,000 addresses for FiOS availability, and found that outer boroughs were more likely to have access than Manhattan," the Journal report said. "For instance, 90 percent of Staten Island residents could likely get FiOS within seven days, while the same is true for just 19 percent of people in central Brooklyn and 11 percent in upper Manhattan.

Verizon also hasn't made FiOS available to two-thirds of the city's 300 or so public housing developments, which house more than 400,000 people, the report said.

Verizon made its citywide FiOS commitment in 2008 in exchange for a cable television franchise. Technically, Verizon is only obligated to provide TV service, but Verizon provides Internet and phone access over the same wires.

Verizon claims it has met the requirement to pass all households with fiber, but Verizon and the city disagree over the definition of "pass." Verizon says its fiber doesn't actually have to be in front of a building in order to "pass" it, as long as it's close enough to buildings that Verizon can provision service without delay. The city's default letter says Verizon hasn't met the agreement since "it has not run fiber immediately in front of or behind each residential building in the City."

Verizon has blamed landlords for not providing access to buildings. But the city's audit report found evidence that Verizon demanded exclusive agreements from landlords that would shut out other providers, in violation of the franchise agreement.

 

[Saro]

DOOOOO IIIITTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[The Last Wizard]

They finally got fits to my area after like a decade, but I don't care anymore since they're missing tcm hd. I say sue em, they took the money knowing damn well they weren't gonna complete.

 

[BlueTsunami]

Verizon has blamed landlords for not providing access to buildings. But the city's audit report found evidence that Verizon demanded exclusive agreements from landlords that would shut out other providers, in violation of the franchise agreement.

Ayyy lmao

Fuck 'em

 

[Starviper]

Verizon has blamed landlords for not providing access to buildings. But the city's audit report found evidence that Verizon demanded exclusive agreements from landlords that would shut out other providers, in violation of the franchise agreement.

Ughhhhhhhhh

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

i think many towns in New Jersey wanna do the same.

hey, when you're a danm near monopoly....

 

[clav]

Ayyy lmao

Fuck 'em

Ughhhhhhhhh

Cable companies do this, too.

Town homes/ apartments are usually wired under some sort of HOA agreement, and these companies make the HOAs sign year long (sometimes decade-long) contracts for guaranteed money to add in their portfolio. This action discourages competition or outsiders to serve those residents because there's magically a lack of interest.

 

[crooked spin]

My block finally got FIOS earlier this year. Blocks to the north and south of me have had it for a couple years. The rollout seems insanely random.

 

[The Last Wizard]

Cable companies do this, too.

Oh definitely, TWC has a monopolies all over NYC.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

They need to get sued by LA as well considering how quickly they abandoned new construction and then fled the fiber market altogether.

 

[daveo42]

There's an exceptional episode of Reply All specifically about this. Supposedly (if I remember correctly), they have to string fiber from building to building in parts of the city if it doesn't or can't run underground. Part of the issue is getting all buildings on side streets to pick up running fiber or else no one gets it. Not that Verizon has been doing the best job in this aspect either.

https://gimletmedia.com/episode/60-a-simple-question/

 

[Azure J]

I'll never forget Verizon telling our family that we qualified for their Internet+ or Enhanced or whatever bullshit when we were in a "no go zone" for FiOS operations. Moving from 768Kbps down/256kbps up to 3Mbps down/1Up (that was more like 1.5/768k) was totally worth the 10~15 dollar premium and a totally worthwhile speed bump in a FiOS less environment! :3

Get fucked Verizon. This was years in the making.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

I thought verizon fios no longer exists?

 

[Nephtis]

Don't just threaten.

Sue.

 

[Laekon]

I thought this was an old bump as this issue has be going on for ever. Verizon keeps coming up with excuses but then at the same time another part of the company refutes them.

I think Trump chump Christie let them off the hook in NJ. I hope NYC doesn't.

 

[RoslindaleOne]

I thought verizon fios no longer exists?

They just started wiring up Boston now. Fios exists.

 

[entremet]

I thought verizon fios no longer exists?

It does, they're just not pursuing additional build outs.

 

[JP_]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

 

[FlyinJ]

i think many towns in New Jersey wanna do the same.

hey, when you're a danm near monopoly....

They did sue them, and Verizon settled by agreeing to give 4G wireless dongles to anyone they said they would cover with FiOS and didn't. Not only do Verizon 4G dongles max out at 2MB/s (if you are lucky), they made anyone who applied for one jump through so many hoops that I believe only about 4% of people in non-FIOS areas were "eligable"

In other words, FUCK VERIZON. If I sign a contract that pays me 100s of millions of dollars and I have no intention of fulfilling it, and I don't, it's called FRAUD and I GO TO JAIL.

Throw them in jail.

 

[SpecX]

I thought verizon fios no longer exists?

Just on the west coast where they sold us out to Frontier. They kept all their accounts/service on the east coast.