News

Mass. mayors urge Verizon to build out FiOS

Two Massachusetts mayors have sent letters on behalf of their communities to Verizon asking the company to build out its FiOS network in their cities. Mayor Ted Bettencourt of Peabody and Mayor Kim Driscoll of Salem urged Verizon to bring the fiber service to their cities to benefit consumers with greater competition.


The Cape Cod Timesreports Mayor Bettencourt received requests from “thousands” of frustrated residents asking for FiOS: “‘The number of calls I’ve gotten on this topic,’ Bettencourt shakes his head, ‘are as much as I’ve gotten on any other topic.’”


Elected officials in New York recently made similar requests of Verizon. The mayors of Syracuse and Kingston joined the Communications workers of America at the bargaining table in Rye, NY, while mayors from Albany, Utica, Rome, and the Town Supervisor of Brookhaven sent letters of support, urging Verizon to stop ignoring their communities’ need for high-speed internet and video service. In addition, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, New York state senator Neil Breslin, and Assemblyman John McDonaly spoke out for their community against Verizon’s failure to deliver FiOS service to the Capital District of New York. The officials explained that Verizon’s failure to build has hurt jobs, hurt consumers, and curbed technological development in the area. The officials demanded that the public service commission investigate the company.

Mayors lobby for FiOS service (Cape Cod Times, Sept. 9, 2015)


Mass. mayors plead with Verizon to bring FiOS to their towns (FierceTelecom, Sept. 11, 2015)


Elected officials, communities blast Verizon for failing FiOS buildout (Speed Matters, Aug. 17, 2015)