Update 8/19: The FCC rejected Verizon’s “fast track” request to not rebuild phone lines on Fire Island and forcibly transition residents to Voice-Link “wireless-only” service. Had the Commission not done so, Verizon’s request would have been automatically granted.
Public Knowledge legal director Harold Feld reports:
“The Bureau made it clear that this was not in any way a determination on the merits of the request. But in light of several substantive filings raising questions about whether substituting Voice Link for copper would (in the words of the statute) “reduce, or impair service to a community” (including requests from both the NY Public Service Corporation (PSC) and the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to hold off until they complete their state level inquiries), the Bureau wanted more information to properly consider the request. Consistent with this, the Bureau also sent Verizon a request for additional data that covers the areas you would hope the FCC would want to know about before deciding whether substituting Voice Link for copper lines “impairs” service to the local community. As decisions go, the decision to take Verizon’s 214(a) off fast track and thoroughly consider all aspects and implications of this first ever complete replacement of traditional copper service with fixed wireless seems like a fairly obvious no brainer. To the contrary, simply allowing such a radical change in service to happen by default should be unthinkable.”
One of many stories with basically this one’s subtitle:
Everyone who has Voice Link hates it
Update 8/5: If you want to send a note to the FCC to turn down Verizon’s petition, you can do so here:
Update: On June 26th, the New York State Attorney General’s Office asked the NY State Department of Public Service, which granted Verizon limited deployment of Voice Link on Fire Island, to halt all other deployments because the company violated the agreement and is attempting to force customers on the wireless Voice Link, from the Catskills to even New York City.
Over 1/2 of the permanent residents on Fire Island wrote to protest Verizon’s forced migration to Voice Link wireless service.
Verizon petitioned for permission not to rebuild Sandy-damaged copper phone lines in Fire Island and the NJ Barrier Islands, representing a small but significant chink in the decades-long tradition of universal telephone service to every address.
The petition (a copy is posted below) offers discontinued wireline customers ongoing service via wireless only (via Voice Link) with othe option to upgrade to more expensive services should they wish to. Existing wireline customers whose copper telephone services were not disabled by Hurricane Sandy may continue using those services for as long as they are operable, but Verizon will, under their proposal, decline to perform any system maintenance or restoration going forward, leaving those customers essentially un-served unless they agree to the Voice Link conversion.
Some concerns that come to mind include battery issues implicit in wireless service, especially in weather emergencies, and the occasional shutdowns in wireless service issued by authorities.
The FCC has not acted on the petition by Verizon as of yet. The company has been criticized by many NYC residents for long delays in the restoration of hurricane-impacted services including not only wireline service, but also wireless and high-speed data connections.
bruce Kushnick writes in the Huffington Post in great detail about the larger implications of the “we’re not gonna fix it” campaign and the connections with the ALEC-inspired state deregulation bills (including California’s SB 1161) that remove consumer protections from next generation telecommunication services.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/verizons-wireless-voice-l_b_3451383.html