New Jersey Communities Consider New Tack to Push Verizon on Broadband Deployment.
New Jersey rural communities are unlikely to appeal a recent controversial state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) decision (CD April 25 p20) that critics say lets Verizon off the hook from a 21-year-old commitment to deploy broadband across the state. They are pursuing a new strategy that would bring the company before the BPU again, said attorneys and officials working on the issue. The BPU had ruled Verizon can offer wireless instead of the fiber that communities wanted. The communities now plan to press the BPU to order Verizon to improve phone reception by replacing copper lines with fiber, said Michael Darcy, assistant executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJSLM), on Thursday. That would bring the high-speed broadband the communities want, he said. The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel is considering an appeal, said Director Stefanie Brand.
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Communities are beginning to compile a case against Verizon’s phone service, said Hopewell Township Solicitor Henry Ritter. The township’s committee voted last week to send notes home from school asking parents to begin documenting instances of poor phone service, and will include the requests in utility bills, Ritter said. The copper-based phone service in the communities is “horrendous and it has been for a long time,” he said. “There’s almost no service when it rains or if there’s a heavy fog.” Because of the poor quality of copper phone lines, DSL service is unavailable for many, Ritter said. There are times, he said, when, unable to communicate with someone in town by email, fax or phone, “You have to jump in your car and go over there in the rain. It’s a Pony Express kind of thing.” BPU ordered separately made Verizon improve phone service in Greenwich and Stow Creek by installing FiOS, he said.
"Verizon provides reliable phone service to millions of customers every day across New Jersey,” it said in a written statement. “The company has made a long-standing commitment to maintaining and upgrading its wireline networks. ... Because of the highly competitive industry we operate in, Verizon has every incentive to keep our networks performing at optimal levels and to provide the best customer experience."
A new BPU petition against Verizon would continue a heated debate in the state over whether the company has made good on commitments by predecessor New Jersey Bell to deploy broadband in return for regulatory relief. Critics including the New Jersey Association of Counties said Verizon had fallen short of fulfilling its obligations, commenting to the BPU that as many as 7 percent of state residents and businesses in seven counties are still without broadband (http://bit.ly/1gs8Hii). BPU’s ruling not only didn’t force the company to meet its obligations but also weakened what’s expected of it, critics said.
The debate before the BPU involved some disputes over what New Jersey Bell agreed to years ago. DSL is available in 100 percent of its central offices and broadband in 99 percent of Census tracts, Verizon’s response said. True, some communities still don’t have broadband, and the 1993 agreement that created the Opportunity New Jersey plan targeted full deployment by 2010, it said. The agreement never required that every home be connected, Verizon said. The FCC National Broadband Plan defines universal service as 99 percent of households by 2020, said Verizon.
The plan also initially anticipated the company would spend $3.87 billion between 1992 and 1999 for broadband deployment, but Verizon invested $5 billion during those years and another $8.3 billion since, Verizon said. Building broadband to rural and sparsely populated areas is uneconomical, the company said. “We've gone above and beyond,” a spokesman said. Others including the state’s rate counsel argued the plan required 100 percent deployment(http://bit.ly/1vasmqL).
In approving a stipulation agreement with Verizon on April 23 (http://bit.ly/T7qyAC), the BPU found the original agreement never required broadband be provided through fiber. It said Verizon could satisfy its obligations to serve the entire state through wireless, instead of laying fiber, disappointing critics who said it allowed Verizon to meet its obligations through what they consider a lesser technology. “Wireless is significantly more expensive and unreliable. ... What we see is Verizon gets to sit on its hands and violate its agreement, and get to deploy the [wireless] technology they want,” NJSLM’s Darcy said. Verizon was also not obligated to serve every household in the state, but a minimum of 35 business or residences by 2017 in Census tracts without broadband from a cable provider or access to 4G wireless service. Darcy said the rural communities couldn’t afford a long and protracted appeal. (kmurakami@warren-news.com)