Mayor of Pittsburgh calls for fines against Verizon

Mayor of Pittsburgh Bill Peduto is calling for fines against Verizon, increasing the pressure against the company for failing to build FiOS service to the entire city after it promised to do so in exchange for a lucrative city-wide franchise agreement in 2009.

“Verizon has not lived up to the commitments that are under the franchise agreement, whether it is how the system is being put in and where the system has been completed. And under that agreement there are fines that will have to start going into effect,” Mayor Peduto said Wednesday. “At the same time, instead of hiring more people to be able to finish this job, they’ve been laying off more people, and these workers now, who could have been completing the commitment that Verizon owes the city of Pittsburgh, find themselves unemployed.”

This renewed call for action against Verizon comes weeks after the mayor first charged Verizon with failing to build FiOS service to the entire city.

"We have an agreement with Verizon that, over the course of several years, the entire city would be provided with FiOS, and it was the agreement that allowed them to start putting their lines in the public right of way," Mayor Peduto told local news outlets. "They have now broken that agreement."

Verizon has been breaking promises and failing to deliver fiber service in cities across the country. Thirteen East Coast mayors signed a letter blasting Verizon for refusing to build out its high-speed network. Boston wants FiOS, but Verizon refuses. New York City issued a damning audit that found Verizon failed to meet the terms of its 2008 franchise agreement. And New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called Verizon out by name after asking the New York Public Service Commission for formal proceedings to investigate “the impact of deregulation on consumers and businesses.”

Pittsburgh continues to press Verizon for Fios service (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 13, 2015)

Like NYC, Pittsburgh Claims Verizon Didn't Meet FiOS Promises (DSL Reports, Oct. 8, 2015)

Verizon won’t bring FiOS to Boston (Speed Matters, Oct. 19, 2015)

East Coast mayors blast Verizon: Stop stalling, start building high-speed Internet (Speed Matters, Oct. 5, 2015)

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

New York Attorney General, consumer groups call for investigation of Verizon, NY telecom industry (Speed Matters, Aug. 21, 2015)