Groups Seek FCC Scrutiny of Verizon NYC Copper-Removal Plans
Verizon plans to retire its copper network in the Rockaway section of New York City (CD May 14 p8) (http://bit.ly/1hahhCj) and Ocean View, Virginia, (http://bit.ly/1i11hNY) are moving through the FCC under a process in the Communications Act that critic New Networks calls little more than “rubber stamping.” The group and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates said in FCC filings the changes would be so significant and auger such widespread changes that they should undergo more scrutiny.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Verizon’s plans come during a critical time, in which a “perfect storm” of events could shape how the U.S. proceeds with retiring copper lines, NASUCA said. In addition to AT&T’s IP transition trials (CD May 29 p2), NASUCA said consumer groups have filed protests in states (CD March 27 p10). Public Knowledge, with eight other consumer groups, also urged the FCC (CD May 13 p8) to investigate complaints that customers on copper facilities are being involuntarily moved to fiber or IP-based service, NASUCA said. The FCC should “take a step back” and judge the Verizon filings as part of a broader discussion about copper, NASUCA said.
The New Networks filing (http://bit.ly/StIhRO) opposed dealing with Verizon’s plans through Section 251, as the telco seeks. Section 251 requires only that the agency be notified, not that the action be approved. The section should used for “simple, small changes in technology ... as it is rubberstamped and approved with no data, analysis or any announcements,” New Networks said May 20. It warned “this below-the-radar approach will be used everywhere Verizon has FiOS.”
The attempt is the beginning of “a massive move” by companies to retire copper with little public scrutiny, said New Networks Executive Director Bruce Kushnick in an interview, saying the FCC should handle the two copper retirement plans under the Section 214, which would require agency approval. A longtime critic of telcos, Kushnick in 2002 was chairman of TeleTruth, a national alliance for customers’ telecom and broadband rights formed to defend the public’s interests, and to educate and inform customers on how to combat monopoly control. NASUCA’s May 20 filing (http://bit.ly/1kCF1yJ) asked the FCC to stay Verizon’s ability to proceed until FCC rules on copper retirement are issued (docket 10-188), the IP trials are completed (docket 13-5) and after the agency conducts the investigation urged by Public Knowledge and the other groups.
A Verizon spokesman said none of the protests is “valid.” The FCC has already decided regulatory approval is not needed for ILECs to retire copper after deploying broadband, Verizon said in a response filed May 28. Citing a 2003 order and NPRM that set out carriers’ unbundling obligations, Verizon said ILECs are required only to notify the FCC of plans and provide competitive providers with access to fiber. The FCC order acknowledged that requiring providers to maintain copper “no longer needed to serve their customers” would divert resources that could be used for deploying or enhancing networks used by more people, Verizon said.
Verizon also described the change as “incremental,” saying fewer than 40 customers in Ocean View and the Belle Harbor community in Rockaway, Queens, are still on copper. Customers have not complained about the proposal, said the telco. Plain old telephone service customers would receive the same service over fiber “on the same terms and conditions and at the same or better price,” said the company. “There is no change in the underlying features and functionalities in their service.” Saying fiber is more reliable and has a longer lifespan than copper, Verizon said the switch of its customers to fiber nationally has prevented 1 million repair or trouble-shooting calls, equating to “one million instances in which customers have not experienced an outage or other problem.” The company reiterated the points in a letter to Wireline Bureau Chief Julie Veach, responding to the Public Knowledge call for an investigation. PK and the other groups “mischaracterize Verizon’s practices regarding customers’ migration away from legacy copper facilities and ignore the significant benefits to consumers of more reliable and capable fiber networks,” Verizon said in the ex parte notice posted Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1uikRNc).
NARUCA acknowledged the 2003 order, but pointing to the IP trials and the pending complaints, said, “Regardless of how such changes have been handled in the past, at this point in time the Commission needs to take a step back and examine Verizon’s proposed changes with a broader perspective.” An FCC spokesman declined to say how the agency would handle the dispute. Veach in a May 7 blog post (http://fcc.us/1oWjnIs) said the agency understands fiber’s advantages over copper and wants to promote investment, but also wants to hear “from every kind of customer -- residential, small or large business, wholesale, and those served by wholesale customers -- about the potential benefits and/or harms that could come from the retirement of these copper facilities.”