The New York state attorney general’s office again...
The New York state attorney general’s office again came down against Verizon’s Voice Link service, both regarding its attempted deployment beyond Fire Island and in comments before the New York State Public Service Commission generally. The AG defended its emergency…
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petition accusing Verizon of illegality in promoting the fixed-wireless Voice Link as a copper replacement in the Catskills. Verizon has maintained the deployment is optional and fully permissible under a May PSC order -- and strongly defended the use and virtues of the new option overall (CD July 1 p18). “While it is true that Verizon’s tariff permits ‘offer[ing] such an alternative service as an optional service’ outside Fire Island, the company’s practices show that Verizon is not, in fact, offering Voice Link as an ‘option,'” the AG told the PSC Tuesday of Verizon’s defense (http://bit.ly/12EQbFl). “For such choice to have any meaning, customers need to be told they have a right to choose to retain their landline service. ... Based on information received from multiple consumers, Verizon is clearly not offering them such a choice.” It described three accounts of consumers receiving Voice Link pressure. The telco fails to tell consumers all relevant Voice Link details and has given “false information, such as asserting that storm damage from Sandy rendered the land line network in the Catskills beyond repair,” the AG said. It urged the PSC to audit Voice Link deployment attempts. The AG and Communications Workers of America also supplied the PSC with comments on the service Tuesday, despite the PSC’s extension of its comment deadline until September. In its comments (http://bit.ly/18tGUsb), the AG slammed Verizon’s copper strategy and referred to ways Voice Link doesn’t match up to landline service. CWA reiterated its concerns with the service and criticized Verizon’s vague language surrounding its deployment: “The Commission needs to get the real story on Verizon New York’s plans for Voice Link and to take an leadership [sic] role in setting the ground rules for any future expansion of the service as Verizon NY’s sole service offering,” the union said (http://bit.ly/14oEebb).