NJ Rate Counsel: Verizon’s fixes are “haphazard,” fail to “address the systemic problems”

After hours of complaints from Verizon’s New Jersey customers, the company said it would fix issues with its copper plant and build new fiber to a few hundred homes. But the New Jersey Rate Counsel – the state body that ensures customers receive safe, adequate, and proper utility service – found that Verizon’s planned fixes were “haphazard” and inadequate.

“While it is certainly an improvement that Verizon has specifically addressed the problems of many of the commenters that night, their actions are not sufficient to address the systemic problems in this area,” the Rate Counsel wrote in a letter to the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU). “It is precisely this type of haphazard approach by Verizon that has resulted in the current, chronic state of disrepair and subpar telephone and DSL service that has plagued Verizon customers throughout the Southern New Jersey towns for years.”

The Rate Counsel called on the NJ BPU to begin a “detailed and transparent” review process of Verizon’s plant maintenance in New Jersey:

The Board must initiate a formal review process that is detailed and transparent and results in an Order setting forth specific actions Verizon is required to undertake and specific measures to ensure Verizon’s compliance in a timely fashion. Any process short of this, in the face of the extensive testimony and evidence presented by the Petitioners in this case, would be an abrogation of the Board’s obligation to ensure safe, adequate and proper service.

The NJ Rate Counsel has long called on the NJ BPU to take action against Verizon. Last year it filed a petition to the BPU seeking and investigation into a threatening letter Verizon sent its customers. It also filed an appeal alleging that the NJ BPU improperly agreed to end state regulation of Verizon’s pricing and service. In addition, 16 NJ municipalities across four counties have filed a complaint with the BPU, requesting the regulators collect data on Verizon service and protect consumers from Verizon’s deteriorating copper network. So far, the BPU has failed to act.

In Pennsylvania, however, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is hearing a petition for a public investigation into the condition of Verizon’s copper plant after complaints from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and other interested groups like AARP and Pennsylvania Working Families. Most recently, CWA  filed testimony before the PA PUC that further documents Verizon’s systemic and continued neglect of its copper infrastructure.

Links:

Hours of complaints from Verizon customers at NJ public hearings (Speed Matters, Aug. 15, 2016)

Verizon’s fiber plan called “haphazard,” leaves many with subpar DSL (Ars Technica, Oct. 3, 2016)

Letter from NJ Rate Counsel to NJ BPU on Verizon maintenance (NJ Rate Counsel, Sept. 30, 2016)

NJ Rate Counsel takes action against Verizon (Speed Matters, July 1, 2016)

NJ municipalities demand investigation in Verizon service quality (Speed Matters, Dec. 7, 2016)

PA regulators turn down Verizon's attempt to block copper plant investigation (Speed Matters, Apr. 25, 2016)

CWA filing in PA documents Verizon's systemic and continued neglect of telephone infrastructure (Speed Matters, Sept. 30, 2016)