Verizon to Offer Fiber Service on Fire Island to Meet Consumer Demands on Voice Link
Verizon will start to install a fiber network in western Fire Island, N.Y., later this year, with the goal to provide the service “as quickly as possible,” a company spokesman told us. He said Verizon is installing a fiber network in response to comments to the FCC, the New York Public Service Commission and a PSC public hearing in Ocean Beach, N.Y., on Aug. 24 about Verizon’s Voice Link wireless service. “We heard the people’s comments and we understand that they want a solution,” said the spokesman. The company’s controversial Voice Link product mainly relies on wireless service, not fiber. Some opponents of the new product have said it may be less reliable than traditional landline phone service.
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Hundreds of residents have already taken advantage of the Voice Link service and they'll continue to do so, said the spokesman. “Customers will be able to use both the Voice Link and fiber services when completed.” The fiber network will provide voice and data service, he said, and will be available for customers by next summer: “No speeds are available at this time, but we will make sure it satisfies the needs of our customers."
Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld is glad Verizon listened to its customers and realized that wireless is “not an acceptable substitute for copper or fiber,” he said (http://bit.ly/15OlC2C). “When communities are struck by a disaster they should be able to count on communications services that are as good or better than what they had before.” The FCC and the New York PSC “stepped up” to get Verizon to install a fiber network, and “we're glad the community of Fire Island demanded it, and we are even more happy that Verizon admitted their mistake and corrected it,” said Feld. The state and federal commissions had no comment.
Verizon’s fiber in Fire Island could also have future implications, said Feld. “We hope the FCC will take the lesson of Fire Island to heart that both providers like Verizon and consumers everywhere need certainty when disaster hits,” he said. “We continue to urge the FCC to begin a proceeding to provide guidance to carriers on their responsibilities to the communities they serve when they replace networks destroyed by natural disasters like Sandy.” (sfriedman@warren-news.com)