Hey, Philadelphia: do you have FiOS to your home?

The City of Philadelphia wants to know: can you get FiOS service at home?

Verizon promised to build FiOS to every residence in Philadelphia by February 2016, but the company won’t tell the city how many homes and apartments still can’t get FiOS service. The city has reached out directly to residents with the plea: tell us if you can’t get FiOS.

In the first week alone, the city received more than 500 complaints from residents who want Verizon FiOS service but are unable to access it, according to the city’s chief information officer Charlie Brennan.

“We never thought we would get that many,” Brennan said. The Philadelphia City Council is investigating Verizon’s broken promise to the city, which could result in up to $2.6 million in penalties.

The comments are further evidence of Verizon’s failure to build its FiOS network to the entire city by Feb. 2016. Verizon was supposed to deliver FiOS access to everyone in Philadelphia in exchange for a city-wide franchise agreement – a deal similar to the one Verizon made in New York, where it also broke its promise to build out its all-fiber service.

The City of Philadelphia is collecting public comments about FiOS for the next two weeks and Speed Matters encourages you to make your voice heard. Submit your commenthere.

The city has gotten 500+ comments from Philadelphians who can’t get Verizon FiOS (Technically, May 19, 2016)

Philadelphia City Council holds hearings on Verizon’s FiOS build-out failure (Speed Matters, May 4, 2016)

City Asks for Public’s Help in Verifying Verizon’s Franchise Agreement Obligations (City of Philadelphia, May 10, 2016)

Verizon breaks promise to deliver FiOS to NYC (Speed Matters, June 19, 2015)

Submit Comments to City of Philadelphia About Verizon’s Franchise Agreement Obligations (City of Philadelphia, May 10, 2016)