NY State mayors tell FCC of concern with Verizon/cable deal

Nine big-city New York State mayors have written to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski expressing their concerns with the pending Verizon/cable deal. They are worried, they write, that the deal with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, and Bright House Networks will cause “a negative impact on economic development and job creation in our cities, leading to higher prices, fewer service options, and a growing digital divide.”

But they are equally concerned that Verizon has not deployed FiOS in their cities. They wrote:

“Verizon has not built its all-fiber FiOS network in any of our densely-populated cities… Yet, Verizon has expanded its FiOS network to the suburbs ringing Buffalo, Albany, Troy, and Syracuse, as well as many places in the Hudson Valley, and most of downstate New York.”

In short, Verizon has carefully and deliberately bypassed neighborhoods inhabited by racial minorities and other low-income people. The mayors provide a chart in their letter that shows the glaring effects of this discrimination.

In closing, the mayors tell Genachowski: “As you review the Verizon Wireless/cable transaction, we strongly urge you to examine the impact of this transaction on competition and consumer choice, and ensure that our communities are not left behind.”

New York mayors letter to FCC (May 16, 2012)

Nine Upstate New York Mayors Tell FCC, DOJ Verizon Wireless/Big Cable Deal Hurts our Communities (news release, May 16, 2012)