New Jersey towns reach settlement with Verizon

The New Jersey county and 17 towns that petitioned the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to hold Verizon accountable for quality service on its copper lines and failing to buildout fiber have reached a settlement with the company. The settlement includes provisions that require Verizon to maintain its copper plant, measure customer complaints in the 17 towns, and deploy fiber to certain locations in New Jersey.

Last year, over 200 New Jerseyans crowded into an elementary school gym for a public hearing. Customers shared service horror stories and demanded the company properly maintain its copper plant or upgrade to a fiber network.

Last week, the New Jersey communities and Verizon came to an agreement, which the BPU approved. The terms of the settlement include:

1.      Copper Maintenance

• Verizon will use its Proactive Preventative Maintenance Tool (PPMT) to identify defective outside copper cables and repair or replace the copper cables.
   
• The company will conduct daily inspections of outside facilities and resolve issues within 30 days.
   
• The company will report and meet with the petitioners semi-annually to discuss maintenance activity.

2.      DSL (Digital subscriber line) Congestion Relief for select towns.

3.      Fiber Deployment

• Verizon will deploy fiber facilities to satisfy its obligation under the Bona Fide Retail Request (BFRR), a stipulation approved by the Board April 23, 2014, to address Verizon’s alleged failure to comply with making broadband available in its service territory. BFRR Program to provide broadband to select towns.

4.      BFRR Program

• Verizon will conduct targeted outreach extending the BFFR Program for 18 months, until June 30, 2019. The BFRR was set to expire in December 2017. Verizon is mandated to perform community outreach so that residences and municipalities may avail themselves to the BFRR.

5.      Customer Trouble Reports

• Verizon will establish unique trouble reports for the 17 communities as a means to measure the results of the agreement.

This settlement comes on the heels of another settlement that impacted Verizon. In a big victory for Pennsylvania consumers, the Communications Workers of America reached a settlement with Verizon that will require the company to repair and replace bad cable, defective equipment, faulty back-up batteries, and to take down 15,000 double telephone poles.

Links:

N.J. Board of Public Utilities Approves Settlement Reached in Verizon Service Quality Matter filed by Cumberland County and 17 Southern New Jersey Towns (NJ BPU, May 31, 2017)

Hours of complaints from Verizon customers at NJ public hearings (Speed Matters, Aug. 15, 2017)

CWA reaches favorable settlement in Verizon copper network case before PA PUC (Speed Matters, June 2, 2017)