Verizon wants permission from regulators to offer wireless-only...
Verizon wants permission from regulators to offer wireless-only service in parts of New York that Superstorm Sandy devastated last year. In a Friday filing before the New York State Public Service Commission (http://bit.ly/13d2hd5), the telco asked for permission to make…
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wireless its sole offering in the western portion of Fire Island and for changes to the tariff language to set up circumstances where discontinuing wireline service is possible. On Fire Island, “Verizon’s outside plant facilities shared in the [Sandy] damage, particularly in the western part of the Island, where about 40% of the access lines were found to be defective after the storm,” Manuel Sampedro, a regional president for Verizon New York, told the PSC. “Five of the six cables that run between Fire Island and the mainland -- the five that serve the western portion of the Island -- were also badly damaged by the storm.” In the western part of the island, much of the copper was “damaged beyond repair,” causing Verizon to offer Verizon Voice Link as its principal service, it said. “The use of a wireless service as the primary service option on western Fire Island makes sense,” Sampedro said. “The cost of replacing facilities is very high, and if hurricanes or other severe storms occur in the future, there is a significant risk that the newly installed outside plant would again be damaged or destroyed.” He called wireless “already the predominant mode of voice communication on the Island.” Verizon will enhance its wireless service on the island, with each home to receive a Voice Link transmitter/receiver to boost service, he said. The Verizon filing detailed how it would help provide battery power for this wireless offering, which runs on electricity, as well as its pricing, which it said will be comparable to landline service for those customers that would have to make the switch. Customers won’t have to change their phone numbers. Verizon will repair copper “on an as-needed basis” for the servicing of such buildings as “firehouses, police stations, and other municipal buildings,” it added.