Is NYC preparing to take legal action against Verizon?

New York City notified Verizon that the company is in default on its Fios build commitments, the first step in possible legal action to hold Verizon accountable for its failed promises.

In 2008, Verizon promised to bring its fiber-optic Fios service to all of New York City by 2014 in its franchise agreement. But Verizon broke that legal commitment. A city audit of Verizon’s buildout found a quarter of NYC households were unable to get Fios service as well as “a litany of corporate incompetence,” including more than 40,000 requests for service pending, “75 percent of which have remained outstanding for 12 months or longer.”

“Part of what the broadband agenda means is making sure that the city is holding its franchise holders accountable,” Maya Wiley, counsel to Mayor de Blasio, said last year. Now it seems the city is preparing to take legal action.

Links:

New York City Says Verizon Has Failed to Meet Fios Targets (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 13, 2016)

Verizon FiOS Implementation Final Audit Report (NYC Information Technology & Telecommunications, June 18, 2015)

The New York Times reports on Verizon’s broken promise (Speed Matters, Aug. 31, 2015)

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