Court Affirms NJ Board Decision on Verizon Broadband
A New Jersey court affirmed a Board of Public Utilities stipulation for a Verizon broadband deployment requirement. In an opinion Thursday, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, denied a challenge to the 2014 BPU decision by the New Jersey…
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Division of Rate Counsel. A 1993 board requirement required Verizon to provide broadband throughout its territory in New Jersey by 2010, but by 2012 the company had completed 99.4 percent. Verizon and the board negotiated a stipulation of settlement, and in 2014, the BPU approved a new plan whereby Verizon must provide broadband within nine months in any census tract where at least 35 customers with no access to broadband or 4G wireless make a request. The Rate Counsel said the decision was unlawful, arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it was approved without a hearing. The regulator and telco said no hearing was required and the board satisfied due process by allowing the public to provide input. Verizon said the Rate Counsel should have raised procedural arguments before the board. In the opinion, the court said its role isn’t to decide whether an administrative agency policy is wise but rather if it’s lawful. “Applying this standard to our review, we conclude the Board's decision to approve the stipulation without an evidentiary hearing was supported by sufficient credible evidence on the record as a whole … and was legally correct, essentially for the reasons expressed by the Board in its order approving the stipulation.” Nobody, including the Rate Counsel, requested a hearing in comments to the board ahead of the decision, the court said: “By affording a period for public comment, the Board provided a sufficient hearing for the public and interested stakeholders to question the stipulation and to urge the Board to adopt or reject it.” The court classified the opinion as “unpublished,” meaning it’s non-precedential. The decision pleased Verizon, which is "eager to move forward and continue making the network investments that have made New Jersey one of the most wired states in the country," a spokesman said. The Rate Counsel disagrees with the decision, Division Director Stefanie Brand said. It's reviewing the opinion and considering next steps, she said. The 30,000 to 40,000 people in New Jersey without broadband access "deserve more of a hearing," she said. It's unclear "how they're going to get broadband or whether they're going to get broadband." The BPU "is satisfied" with the ruling recognizing "the wide deference granted" to the agency, including its interpretations of rules and the regulator's "flexibility in determining the most appropriate proceeding process," an agency spokesman emailed Friday.